Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

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d_green
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Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by d_green »

After a lifetime of wearing glasses for distance vision, I have finally decided to use soft contact lenses. I had tried contact lenses in the past but never got used to them and just gave up. However, I seem to have finally found a style I am comfortable with and plan to wear them on an everyday basis.

I am debating whether I should buy a few backup pairs of glasses. My eyes are terrible (my script is -8 dioptres in each eye) and I cannot function without any vision correction.) I plan to keep my most recent pair of glasses in my car at all times. My question is whether I should also keep another pair of glasses with me all the time- like in a travel bag or my pockets?

I am interested in learning what other contact lens wearers with very poor vision do. Do you carry glasses with you all the time? Have there been times when your contact lens just popped out at random and you couldn't find it? Are there any tips for carrying glasses with you - like special pocket size glasses cases? Also, are there places that sell glasses cheaply online?

Thanks
Last edited by d_green on Mon Apr 20, 2015 12:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.
lightheir
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by lightheir »

The glasses are helpful since contacts are generally recommended to not be worn more than 12-15 hours at a time. A lot of people do wear them longer than that daily with no problem, but there is more eye fatigue and dryness if you do so, so having glasses for after that period is helpful.

I've however never needed glasses as a during-the-day backup to my contacts, have been with contacts for decades. A good place to get a cheap pair of backups is Zenni.com - no need to spend $300+ for overpriced frames/lenses when you can get them for $30 or even less from Zenni.
General Disarray
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by General Disarray »

Hi, d_green.

My eyesight is just about as bad as yours. (I hope I will never have to wear BOTH contacts and glasses concurrently.)

You should always have a pair of backup glasses. There may be many times when you cannot wear contacts--for instance, at night, if you have an eye infection, after an eye exam in which they dilate your eyes, etc.

I wear contact lenses almost exclusively, but I wear a really pair of old glasses with extremely out-of-date lenses if I do not need to go out and I'm in front of my computer working.

I also have a pair of glasses with up-to-date lenses that I have in case I need to use it as a substitute for the contacts. I can drive with these glasses.

In my regular day-to-day life, I do not carry my glasses with me, since I wear contacts. But when I travel anywhere overnight, I pack my glasses with me. When I travel long distances, I also usually pack an extra set of contact lenses (these are monthly disposables).

I buy both my disposable lenses and glasses at Costco.
DSInvestor
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by DSInvestor »

lightheir wrote: I've however never needed glasses as a during-the-day backup to my contacts, have been with contacts for decades. A good place to get a cheap pair of backups is Zenni.com - no need to spend $300+ for overpriced frames/lenses when you can get them for $30 or even less from Zenni.
Zenni is great. I bought a few pairs from them.
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myrrh
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by myrrh »

Personally, I store a small bottle of solution and an extra pair of contacts at work. I haven't needed to use the backup contacts (except to use them up and replace with a newer version annually) but the solution has come in handy several times. If your contacts fit right they shouldn't be popping out much. I mostly use the glasses at home at night. Bring both when traveling of course.
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kramer
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by kramer »

Good answers here. In several decades of wearing daily use soft contact lenses (removed each evening), I have never needed a replacement pair when I was away from home and out for the day. However, it is not a bad idea to have a cheap pair of glasses when out (like in the car). Zenni is a great suggestion.

However, I always wear glasses in the morning and most of the evening at home. I wouldn't dream of putting on my contacts in the first half hour of my day, eyes are way too tired -- and I usually don't put them on until a few minutes before I leave the house. Also, for most of my professional life at the workplace, which was spent staring into a screen as a software engineer, I wore glasses. Staring at a screen reduces blinking and dried my eyes out. The eye doctor actually told me to stop wearing contacts at work because of what they were doing to my eyes.

I would say that I wear contacts only about half of my waking hours now.
sfchris
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by sfchris »

Yes, you should have backup glasses. A couple times a year my eyes get too irritated by various things to safely wear contacts (irritated eyes plus contacts can result in corneal ulcers). You need glasses to safely get through such periods.
aaaaaaabbbbbbbbbb
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by aaaaaaabbbbbbbbbb »

Buy a pair or two of glasses from Zenni for $10.
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dumbbunny
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by dumbbunny »

As a former contact lens wearer (now over a decade with Lasik), I always had a emergency pair of eyeglasses with me. I never like to put my contact in first thing in the morning (on weekends). I sometimes liked to remove my lenses in the evening so there wasn't so much to do just at bedtime. Being a bike commuter sometimes I would get debris in my eye and the only recourse was to pop out my lens(es) and put on my glasses. You should alway carry your lens case with you, too.
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Epsilon Delta
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by Epsilon Delta »

d_green wrote:Have there been times when your contact lens just popped out at random and you couldn't find it? Are there any tips for carrying glasses with you - like special pocket size glasses cases?
It can also happen that a contact lens pops out and you can't properly clean it due to circumstances such as no soap and water, no saline solution etc. You're supposed to wash your hands before you touch your eye so this happens more often than not, even if you have a spare pair of contacts it's not always appropriate to pop one in.

It can also make sense to select the backup glasses for minimal functionality rather than style. A wire frame with small lenses is lighter and fits in a smaller case; plain glass lenses are cheaper than plastic and coating. You can get a pair for low tens of dollars. You won't get a date while wearing them, but that may not matter. :happy An analog is a compact spare rather than the heavier full service spare.
johnubc
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by johnubc »

not only Should be get a pair, you Must get a pair of glasses - there will be the day when you have an eye infection, loose a contact or just feel more comfortable with the glasses that day. Plus, many of us look more intelligent when we where our glasses.
downshiftme
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by downshiftme »

As a contact lens wearer, I strongly recommend having spare glasses available. These are only for backup, so getting very inexpensive ones from Zenni Optical made sense for me. I don't like to carry them around, so I park a pair in my car, in my office, at home, in my carry on bag, and I know if anything happens I will still be able to see. I can almost always use contact lenses, but have had some incidents over the years where I needed to fall back on glasses unexpectedly (wind blew dust in my eyes, ski trip that I had trouble with contacts, lost a lens once and didn't have a spare). I'm glad I had my glasses available.
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lthenderson
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by lthenderson »

d_green wrote:I am interested in learning what other contact lens wearers with very poor vision do. Do you carry glasses with you all the time? Have there been times when your contact lens just popped out at random and you couldn't find it? Are there any tips for carrying glasses with you - like special pocket size glasses cases? Also, are there places that sell glasses cheaply online?
Back when I worked, I had a spare pair of glasses at work and one at home, the two places where I most often lost a contact or had a problem with them. I just kept them in a drawer to use when needed.

Like others said, I would just buy a cheap pair of glasses. I have used eyebuydirect.com for about a decade now and have never had a problem with them. Usually I can get two pairs of glasses for about $50 but they go for cheaper if you don't get the add-ons like antiglare and really thin.
Woodshop2300
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by Woodshop2300 »

My eyes are no where near that bad, I can function w/o my contacts. But not well enough to drive.
For the record astigmatism, so I have 1 month toric disposable.
I wear them from 8am till 10pm every day 7 days a week.
I have no glasses at all, never owned a pair, been 4 years now.
But like I said, middle of the night, need to move around the house, I'm just fine w/o them.
If that wasn't the case, I'd definitely have at least on pair if only for the midnight snack trip.
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kenyan
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by kenyan »

My eyes aren't quite as bad as yours, but I can't function effectively without correction (I can walk around the house without bumping into things, but can't read and certainly can't drive). I always have a backup pair of glasses, but it's primarily for pre-bedtime reading or iPad use, not for carrying around. The worst thing that's happened during the day is a tear in one lens due to absentminded rubbing, but I can drive with one working eye. The other use would be for eye infections/corneal scratches/what-have-you.
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dad2000
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by dad2000 »

Yes, buy a cheap pair or two.

A family member recently got a case of the conjunctivitis and couldn't wear the contacts for more than a week. Having the glasses around made this less inconvenient.
SGM
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by SGM »

If you are severely near sighted you probably want a pair of eyeglasses at your bedside.
hyla
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by hyla »

I usually wear contacts but have backup glasses. I only bring mine on longer trips (they come on a vacation or work trip, but I don't carry them all the time in my purse or car, but I'm only -3.0 so I can manage one-eyed if needed if one falls out halfway through a workday). You could also carry backup contacts - I find the bausch and lomb cases are very watertight and up to being carried around in a bag all day.

I just bought a pair of glasses from pollete.com and like them a lot. I spent about $30, you may have to pay more for thin lenses if you have a higher prescription but they did have thin lens and progressive options.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by ResearchMed »

Neither of us wear contacts, but we need glasses for reading (and now somewhat for distance).

We keep cheap backup glasses for the glasses.
If they break or get misplaced, big trouble!
(And that's not counting the fact that I'd need the glasses to be able to see well enough to find the glasses.)

I can't imagine not having backup glasses for contacts, given some of the additional concerns mentioned above.
They can get lost, dirty, or you could have some eye irritation/infection that would make it impossible (or very ill-advised) to wear the contacts.

For travel, we also added those tiny folding glasses (cheap version) so they can be stuffed just about anywhere.
No point getting anything but el cheapo, given we hope we won't need these backups.

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Agamede
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by Agamede »

My eyesight is a bit worse than yours and I wear monthly disposables every day for almost the entire day. I'll usually have my glasses on very briefly in the morning as I go through my morning routine, and sometimes use glasses again for an hour or two at the very end of the day.

I would never, ever go without a backup pair of glasses entirely or travel overnight without my glasses. It would be disabling if something were to happen to my contacts. When I first got my contacts, I took my glasses with me everywhere. Now I'm more comfortable and leave them at home unless I'm traveling. (I also take a replacement pair of contacts with me when traveling for more than a day or two. I very much prefer my contacts to glasses, so I wouldn't want to go without them for long.) I keep a bottle of contact lens solution at work so I can clean my contacts if I get something in my eye-- rare but it happens. I've never had a lens tear or pop out unexpectedly. I have very occasionally worn glasses instead of contacts for an entire day due to eye irritation or illness, but since that's something I can determine before I leave the house, I don't worry about carrying my glasses with me.

I do think contacts wearers can usually get by replacing their glasses less frequently than full-time glasses wearers. But since I (like you) can't function without vision correction, I don't stretch that concept very far. I want to be able to pass the vision test for driving with my glasses, so if/when my correction drifts too far from my current pair, I'll replace them.
jridger2011
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by jridger2011 »

I would get backup glasses with contacts because there are some days contacts can be difficult to wear especially during allergy season.
Louis Winthorpe III
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by Louis Winthorpe III »

Definitely.
JLJL
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Re: Just got contact lenses. Should I buy backup glasses?

Post by JLJL »

FWIW my eyes are (were) also terrible and I found the switch from glasses to contacts was more life changing than the switch from contacts to Lasik believe it or not. I was able to comfortably wear contacts the whole day, removing for sleep, rarely a problem. But I always got a new pair of glasses every time I updated my script and would wear them in and out of bed, sunday morning, etc. In the 20 years wearing contacts I never had an instance where I was without a contact or replacement contact. The introduction of daily/weekly wearers was the greatest. I admit there were plenty of times when I was away from home without glasses during the day, but always took them if I traveled.

By the way, Lasik has been great, but if I suddenly had to go back to contacts it wouldn't be devastating.

So enjoy the new lifestyle!
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