Contact lenses.

Well I wear both glasses and contacts. Beating to windward on a rough day with spray coming back the contacts are much better,

However at the end of my watch when I want to turn in taking glasses off is MUCH easier than removing contact lenses. You might want to think about trying it beforehand on a daysail.
 
Kintail,

Buy them online, big price reduction as opposed to all local opiticians. I've worked in and out of the Far East for years and what UK opticians ask for contact lenses make me spit. Just large quantity of Bausch & Lomb daily disposables in Hong Kong for the equivalent of 208 pounds. (Lens Crafters Hong Kong)

Once you have the lens perscription shop around.

Bob
 
Im a daily soft contact wearer. I also buy online to get a better deal and I also buy Daysoft as a backup to my normal ones.

The day soft are so cheap that they really are disposable. I don't like to sleep or even doze in them, so just take them out and throw them away. Then put in another pair when I want to get up. It only takes a second and costs pennies.
 
Laser surgery is the answer. Had it done 4 years ago after wearing glasses and contacts for decades. My only regret is not doing it years earlier.
 
This is what I did:

1) Start wearing glasses
2) Get annoyed with the inconvenience and cost
3 Get soft monthly contact lenses
4) Get annoyed with how they feel by the end of the month
5) Get daily soft contact lenses
6) Get annoyed with the inconvenience and cost
7) Get laser eye surgery
8) Now it feels like I have HD vision :-)

Personally I find my eyes got very dry with lenses, sea water and salty air didn't help, but I'd prefer them over glasses (so long as you keep some eye drops and spares handy).

That said, I still keep eye drops with me now a lot of the time, even 2 years after my laser surgery my eyes still seem to get very dry at times, not ideal, but still worth it!
 
bbg said:
Laser surgery is the answer. Had it done 4 years ago after wearing glasses and contacts for decades. My only regret is not doing it years earlier.
Click to expand...

Laser surgery is great - provided your uncorrected eyesight is not too bad. the limit that most of the laser eye surgeons will attempt is +/- 3 diopters - I'm -5 - no option for laser.
 
Hi folks, and thanks for all the replies. This forum never lets me down. While the answer appears a big thumbs up to lenses, I may have a problem reading charts etc. I can read a telephone book without specs and this may be a problem while wearing distance lenses. Will see what optician says.
 
Forgive the thread drift, but do any of you older guys have an answer to the problem of watery eyes? For the past three or four years my eyes have streamed whenever facing into a coolish breeze. Even with a tissue or hanky to dry them the relief is only momentary, and a few minutes later I will be half blinded again. Presumably it is faulty drains / tear ducts, but what can one do about them?
 
maby said:
Laser surgery is great - provided your uncorrected eyesight is not too bad. the limit that most of the laser eye surgeons will attempt is +/- 3 diopters - I'm -5 - no option for laser.
Click to expand...

The other option (a lot more expensive) is having full on lense replacement. I know two people that have had this (one in 2004, one last year) and both have had no problems. - The guy I know who had it done in 2004 was in his late 60s at the time and had worn milk bottles since he was a boy; neither of them now need glasses for either distance or close up/reading.
 
I too have worn contact lenses since 1971 January, so I may be the person who has worn them for longest! I am also shortly faced with a decision as to whether to continue wearing them - I am about to have cataract surgery, which will give me good distant vision without correction. But I will still need correction for close work.

A few comments:

1) I've always worn hard lenses; these days gas-permeable ones. From the point of view of use in a rough and tumble environment, they are ideal - they don't absorb fluids, so they can be kept clean in less than perfect conditions on a boat. They also don't dry out, and a dash of salt water will actually help lubricate them! I've used them in field conditions in the Arctic without any problem.

2) Downside of hard lenses is that they take some getting used to; when I started wearing them - for optical reasons, not cosmetic, I hasten to say - it was reckoned that a large proportion of people trying contact lenses wouldn't be able to adapt to the hard lenses which were the only option in those ancient days. In fact, some practitioners wouldn't recommend contact lenses UNLESS there was a significant optical advantage; they reckoned people without a strong incentive to adapt to them wouldn't be able to wear them.

3) I've never worn soft lenses, but my wife has. She has had difficulty inserting them - she has oriental eyes and a small face, and it took her quite a while to develop a technique for inserting them. But I think most western men will not have that difficulty.

3) The care of monthly soft lenses is much more critical than for hard lenses. Some people (including my wife) can't use the standard solutions and have to go for a preservative free system.

4) Something I'm going to look into is varifocal contact lenses. They are available - my wife used them - but I don't know if they are avaialble for hard lenses or only for soft lenses.
 
I have worn soft lenses for years. Now I am getting older (56yr) I needed to use reading glasses. Now I have varifocal lenses. They are great! Now can see distance and can also read without glasses.

My son is short sighted. He uses Ortho-K lenses. Very clever in that one wears a hard lens at night that changes the shape if the eyeball and so corrects your vision. Take them out in the morning so no lenses during the day. Much better for oxygenation of the cornea. If I was starting afresh thats what I would get.

http://www.ortho-k.co.uk/

If you have you eyes lasered, they still deteriorate with age and you will still need reading glasses.

TudorSailor
 
AntarcticPilot said:
3) The care of monthly soft lenses is much more critical than for hard lenses. Some people (including my wife) can't use the standard solutions and have to go for a preservative free system.
Click to expand...

Not for one moment doubting that this is the case for your wife but my experience is just the opposite. I have worn monthly lenses for about 15 years. I never do anything other than soak them in standard solutions overnight, of which I have had three or four different types. I have slept with them in many times on longhaul flights and overnight passages. On rare occasions when they feel a bit gritty I take them out and rub them with spit, which removes any protein deposits. Virtually no maintenance of any type works perfectly for me.
 
vyv_cox said:
Not for one moment doubting that this is the case for your wife but my experience is just the opposite. I have worn monthly lenses for about 15 years. I never do anything other than soak them in standard solutions overnight, of which I have had three or four different types. I have slept with them in many times on longhaul flights and overnight passages. On rare occasions when they feel a bit gritty I take them out and rub them with spit, which removes any protein deposits. Virtually no maintenance of any type works perfectly for me.
Click to expand...

I've had much the same experience over a slightly longer period. I've also managed to get a couple of eye infections which, luckily, have cleared up quickly. They were rather unpleasant while they lasted and I now take a bit more care to avoid them. They were probably initiated by small scratches on the eye, possibly from finger nails when removing lenses. A few nasty bacteria into these scratches and covered with a lens the next day provided good breeding grounds. I'd therefore caution strongly against introducing oral bacteria into the eyes.
 
I tried varifocal contacts and was pleased with them. There are several versions around and you have to experiment to find one that works for you - I found that the Bausch and Lombs (spelling probably wrong) worked best - the optician said that my vision with them in qualified as "perfect".

My problem was that they only make them in my prescription as monthly lenses and I have high protein deposits in my tears - they proved to be very difficult to keep clean and eventually I triggered a serious infection that took a couple of months to clear.
 
Thistle said:
I've had much the same experience over a slightly longer period. I've also managed to get a couple of eye infections which, luckily, have cleared up quickly. They were rather unpleasant while they lasted and I now take a bit more care to avoid them. They were probably initiated by small scratches on the eye, possibly from finger nails when removing lenses. A few nasty bacteria into these scratches and covered with a lens the next day provided good breeding grounds. I'd therefore caution strongly against introducing oral bacteria into the eyes.
Click to expand...

That's what I mean - the soft lenses are more fragile and provide a better breeding ground for bugs than hard lenses do.

As I said, the cleansing agents for soft lenses DO cause a reaction in some people, resulting in the need to use a preservative free system (which is based on hydrogen peroxide).

Incidentally, I don't see how oral bugs can be a problem - the tear ducts provide a direct link between the eyes and the nasal cavity, which of course links to the oral cavity. Any bugs in your mouth can get to your eyes through natural links.
 
bbg said:
Laser surgery is the answer. Had it done 4 years ago after wearing glasses and contacts for decades. My only regret is not doing it years earlier.
Click to expand...

big plus one, and I had mine done 12 years ago. If you can have it done, do it. You very quickly forget that you even used to wear glasses, until you look at old photos! I paid for my daughter to have hers done last year, and the procedure is more advanced and is now pain free.
 
Had them since I was 17 and now I'm 51. Get a prescription then buy them off the internet for half the price. Daily disable. Saves any messing about cleaning them
 
maby said:
I tried varifocal contacts and was pleased with them. There are several versions around and you have to experiment to find one that works for you - I found that the Bausch and Lombs (spelling probably wrong) worked best - the optician said that my vision with them in qualified as "perfect".

My problem was that they only make them in my prescription as monthly lenses and I have high protein deposits in my tears - they proved to be very difficult to keep clean and eventually I triggered a serious infection that took a couple of months to clear.
Click to expand...

My varifocals are daily disposables made by CooperVision. Recommended

No problems with wearing while sailing or doing surgery. I have often wondered with my optician if working in a clean air environment is the reason I have never had an problems wearing lenses all day every day

TudorSailor
 
tudorsailor said:
No problems with wearing while sailing or doing surgery. I have often wondered with my optician if working in a clean air environment is the reason I have never had an problems wearing lenses all day every day
Click to expand...

Maybe, but my working life has been in refineries, offshore oil platforms, engineering workshops, with lots of longhaul flying, while my leisure time has been doing every sort of DIY activities, welding, grinding, building, car work. I have never had any problems either:)
 
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