Soft Perm Lens

[Louise Pembroke]

I've experienced eye 'pain' on taking out my RGP lens if I've left it in for too long.
Sympathise with the difficulty in inserting scelerals Sweet, I couldn't do it.

[Andrew MacLean]

Hey, acnap

All the best with your new lenses when they arrive. I belong to the Star trek generation (in fact all the Star Trek Generations) and remember how frustrating it was when just when the denouement of the episode ought to have been reached a caption flashed on the screen, reading

--- THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES!

I never liked it then, and when it kept happening with my lenses, I liked it even less. Still, with the adventure continuing, there is always the promise that everything will work out for the best.

Yours aye

Andrew

[GarethB]

The more I read posts like this since putting up my theory, the more I am covinced much of the comfort issues we face are down to the tears.

looking down a slit lamp can tell if the cornea is healthy, but is devoid of information regarding corneal surface hydration and the function of the tears.

Artificail tears are useless to me and it is the lubricating drops that help. This is something that I found myself, the specialist thought I was wasting my time exploring this route and optom was openminded as it was outside his area of expertise. Well both have admitted my lens wear tolerance was down to the tears based on the hypothsis I put forward.

In the process we got through many lenses during the consultaion and I inevitably ended up staying with the original lenses with limited lens wear.

I definitly think this area needs further research, especially if it can regain lens comfort like it has done for me.

[Andrew MacLean]

I do believe that Gareth is onto something here. could be a PhD in this for somebody!

A

[Sweet]

I find hydrating drops much better as well although most will tell you that artificial tears account to roughly the same thing as they try to stop the eye drying out. I find that saline is just as good as branded eye drops and so long as i use them regularly my lenses don't dry out.

Sweet X x X

[Andrew MacLean]

When my eyes get dry I often irrigate with sterile saline. I can also sue Optrex or just some salty boiled (and cooled!) water.

[GarethB]

Sweet, Andrew I think you have hit the nail pretty much on the head, hydrating is one thing but for long term comfort, that hydration needs to be locked in.

I have found the lubrcating eye drops best and I think this is because the lens is slightly more mobile so the friction of the lens on the surface is less so draws less moisture from the lens. I know soft lenses need wetting, but an experiment I did today was to leave my lens in its case free of solution and let it dry. The lens colour is very blue, but hydrate it with the conditioning solution and it goes its darker blue. In this state the lens is always more comfortable, so there must be a degree of water uptake into the lens through the mechanism that makes the lens gas permeable. Just need to become an expert on plastics to understand this better.