UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi All,

Going to be travelling longhaul in February. I will be putting RGP's in at 6 a.m. in morning and by the time i arrive and take lenses out it will be 12 midnight.

I was thinking i might be best wearing my glasses travelling . What would be the best way to transport my RGP's without causing harm to them.

Thanks

In the past I have put mine in the normal lens case with plenty of solution. I also have a small plastic case that originally had a small compact umbrelle. Just the right size for Boots RGP Contact Lens travel kit and the inside is lined with a few tissues, should I need to mess around with my lenses. This is then wrappe in a towel as we all no how messy airport toilets can be and often have no plug. The towel serves not only as padding, but a cover for the sink so the lens does not land on a hard dirty surface, but has no rote down the plug hole.

All this goes on the plane in my bag as hand luggage so at least I can keep an eye on it.

My wife calls me Ford as I always tell her it important to knw where your towel is, just like in the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Find my towel, find all my lens stuff

I did a Long haul (20 hours total) about 2 years back.

At that time I was wearing a Scleral and a Corneal (one in each eye) and I can tell you that at the end of it my eyes were hurting me!....My vision would mist up at the 12 hour mark and i just hadto close my eyes...but I didnt want to take them out!

On that trip I learnt my lesson....so on the return flight I wore them in 6 hour Cycles.....took them out for about 45 mins and then put them back in.......I cant sleep on Airplanes but if I could I would have just taken them out on the flight.

J

Thanks Guys

Some very handy tips.

I think i might leave them out for the entire journey as do not want to be messing around in airport or tiny jet toliets.

Might try the plenty of solution in case and wrap in a towel and bring as hand luggage. I wonder would it be best to fill the entire lens case with solution as once when i had lenses in case, they stuck to the lid. The case was half full.

What I did was have two lens cases.

One without fluid in it, and one with.

When I boarded the flight I put both and the solution bottle in front of me in those elasticated compartments.

When I needed to take them out I pulled down the table, laid out my stuff and got to work lol.

It must have looked like I was about to de-assemble a gun or something!!

But anyway, thats what worked for me

LOL! at the way your phrased the assemble lenses cases. I am the same at home. Have towel laid out with the solution, mirror and cases.

I am still not too confidnet with taking the lesnses out. I have a big mirror at home. i'd be afraid that they would fall off that tiny table.

Would it be ok to carry them in a case topped with fluid for the journey.

Yes, carrying them in a case filled 1/2 to 3/4 is fine also......and I guess you can keep them handy incase you do want to insert them in the small toilets lol!

Thanks.

Might do that as i might need them in for a bit as eye sight with glasses is not the best.

When i started with lenses i wanted to go back to glasses. Now, i would never give up my lenses.

For me I can wear my right lens for a good 15 hours before it starts to hurt but I try to save my 'wear time' when travelling and as soon as I am mid-flight I pop my lenses out - it was handy the planes I was on had those little TVs in the headrests so seeing the movies wasn't a problem - and I only put my lenses in for walking around the airport or getting my bags.
I'm not long back from travelling and stuff so I bought smaller bottles that fit all neatly together into one zipper bag which can fit in the inside coat pocket ... I filled each bottle up with amounts of the solutions that cover me for about 3 days, the bigger bottles went in my carryon case if I needed them. I kept a handy supply of 2 bottles of artifical tears as well, bc sometimes sitting on a plane dries my eyes out.
I opted NOT to wear my sclera, too much hassle to insert, not enough space and besides I can't wear it long enough to justify it on trips.
Also, I'd suggest getting urself a packet of hand-wipes, ya know the ones with the anti-bac stuff in them, to obviously, wipe your hands saves you having to mess about in small toilets or looking for a clean place if you need to pop a lens out for cleaning (which is useful if you're in a line or going thru customs) and a packet of regular dry wipes so you can dump ur old lensecase solution onto, for refilling the case.

oh and a couple of tips, when you're popping the lenses out esp at a busy airport or on a plane, sometimes they do kinda 'pop' out and fall, so cover your eye, as in cup the eye with a tissue and pull the eyelid back then blink, it'll never fall or bouce out of your hand that way.
Putting your lenses in can be a bit tricky, but actually you really dont need a mirror for rgp lenses I can put mine in, in complete darkness,I actually dont need to 'see' what I'm doing and for me thats the trick, 'feeling' what your doing as opposed to trying 'see' it which helps with lights-out on a plane - althou that doesn't really apply to sclera lenses at the start.

Hi

Thanks for the tips. Really useful. Did you get the bottles from Optician. I only have the lenses cases.

I am only wearing lenses for about 6 months and had one brek on me so I am still quite nervous but getting much better.