Mods, I debated about where to put this, so if you thinks it’s more suited to IMHO or MPSISM, feel free to move it.
My question is whether toric contact lenses (those that correct astigmatism) are available in extended wear (where you can put a set of lenses in and wear them constantly for a week or more at a time) rather than daily wear (where you have to take the lenses out each night and put them in each morning).
I read a review of the Acuvue toric lenses, and it seemed to imply that an extended wear toric lens is now available, but I can’t find confirmation anywhere.
So, if there are any eye-care professionals or extended wear toric contact users out there who can confirm/deny the existence of this item, I’d really appreciate it.
Focus[sup]TM[/sup] is a brand of extended wear disposable contact lens. However, I have been advised from my eyecare professionals against actually wearing extended wear contacts on any extended basis. So I have extended wear disposables but wear them like daily wear. Only difference is that instead of trying to clean off protein deposits I just toss them after a few days.
Also, I have tried these types of lenses a couple of times to correct for my astigmatism a few times, but they just don’t work for me. They move around to much in my eyes, so they actually made my vision worse and gave me bad headaches. I will go for Lasik sometime in the next six months instead.
Did they give you a reason that you shouldn’t wear them as the manufacturer intended? I had Focus brand toric lenses a few years ago, but as far as I know, they were all daily wear at that time. They never fit correctly, and one of the contacts would constantly spin on my eye and it was always blurry. I gave them up, but I’m hoping that they’ve made some advances since then, including the possibility of lenses I can wear for a week at a time.
I bought my first set of toric extended wears in 1986. I wore them for up to a week at a time, out for a night to clean them, and back in for a week. I have very bad astigmatism and the torics worked perfectly. They were Baush and Lombs. I had them for about 8 years and stopped wearing them due to an eye injury and subsequent infection (unrelated to the contacts). I am in process of getting them again though now. Most docs suggest pulling them out each day for a quick cleaning if at all possible, then putting them back in, but upwards of a week is not a problem. The main problem is protein deposits clogging the pores in them, cutting down oxygen flow which can be a bad thing. Some people have sensitive eyes and they have to clean them each day. Depends on the individual. Most any optical shop that fits contacts will give you a breakdown of the brands available and what they recommend.
I have been wearing contact lens of various types (always soft) for 25 years. When I was young and stupid(er), I would wear normal soft contact lenses like extended wear, e.g., not take them out of my eyes for as much as a month at a time. (Disposables and true extended wear weren’t on the market yet) This resulted in at least one case of conjunctivitis and one case of keratitis (inflammations of the conjuctive / soft tissue around the eye and of the cornea itself, respectively).
As for the not wearing the lenses all the time gig, this was more a recommendation to let the cornea “breathe” more than an actual warning like "if you do this you’ll go blind. The reco was not to exceed 12-14 hours a day if possible. Its not much more expensive or much more trouble. Occasionally I do sleep in them, but only in emergency cases. At these times I find that the lenses dry up and don’t last as long. Since toric disposable lenses are more expensive, and designed to last about 1 month, I would say it would be a decent way to protect your investment, if one chose to go that way.
I used to wear Focus Toric extended wear all the time; took them out once a week for cleaning and that was it. Then I went to an eye dr. (my current one) who explained to me that if you do this, the cornea is chronically deprived of oxygen, and eventually the cornea begins to grow new blood vessels in an effort to bring in more oxygen. This creates a problem of crowding as well as increased pressure in your eyes as I (vaguely) understood him. Anyhow, I still wear Focus Toric but don’t sleep in them. It bugged me at first having to take them in & out but now I am used to it. And according to the Dr. my corneas look much healthier now. I wear disposable lenses and instead of lasting one month they last two since I take them out at night, so this has the benefit of being cheaper.
I wear Toric monthly lenses, and I used to do this too. In fact, once or twice I even got up to three months out of my lenses. Then I started getting chronic eye infections and finally at my last visit to the eye doctor I was warned to cut my contact wearing back to social occasions only, or else pretty soon I’d reach a point where I couldn’t wear lenses at all. Monthly lenses are not meant to be worn for over a month, even if you do take them out at night.
How can anyone stand to wear extended lenses? Are my eyes just unusually sensitive? I have tried contacts, and I can barely stand wearing them all day, much less several weeks. They irritate my eyes and I need constant lubrication, as they’ll quickly dry out and distort my vision a bit. The few times I dozed off while wearing contacts, I awoke either with really scratchy, red eyes or the horror of a folded lens stuck “behind” my eye.
