The All-Seeing Eyes - Another Update

You may recall (see here and here) that just over a month ago I visited Specsavers and had myself fitted with some ‘continuous wear’ contact lenses. I then wore them for three weeks (including our two-week Coast-to-Coast jaunt), during which time I took them out overnight three times, as recommended.

The result of the three week trial was positive. They got dry sometimes, mainly overnight, but no more dry than my daily disposables would get after a few hours of use and an eye-drop in each eye soon resolved the problem.

The fly in the ointment was the realisation that Specsavers does more than one brand of continuous wear contact lens. My budget would only stretch to the cheapest and Specsavers had given me the expensive ones to try. All was not lost, however, as they were willing to give me the cheaper option for a further trial, but with the warning that they were unlikely to be as comfortable.

I beg to differ. They don’t seem to be any less comfortable, and if anything I would say that the dryness has been less.

Over the trial period of four weeks, my glasses have been used for less than half an hour, and I’ve rather enjoyed the novelty of 24 hour vision. The best moment was, I think, popping out of the tent in the middle of the night when we were pitched above Ennerdale Water and rather than everything being a blur in the moonlight, I could see clearly; it was such a fine view it would have been a shame to have missed it.

My original plan in trying these was to have less faff when backpacking, with the thought that I would continue with glasses and daily disposables for wearing at home, and get a few pairs of continuous wear ones for when I’m away. The reality is that I’ve been suckered into the convenience even when at home.

It’s not made my pack weight any lighter, as I will still carry my glasses on a just-in-case basis, and I wouldn’t go without a contact lens case and solution in case anything went awry (the experience of a daily lens splitting in two in my eye whilst out walking has made me cautious). But, that’s immaterial when weighed against the joy of being able to see, even late in the evening when Mick suddenly exclaims from outside the tent “Quick, look at that over there”.

So, if you're a contact lens wearer and you fancy 24 hour vision and less faffing with fingers in the eyes then, from my experience so far, I would say that it's worthwhile at least having a trial with the extended wear lenses.