Rest Days

[Carole Rutherford]

Another one from David. He started having a rest day one day each week when he does not wear his lenses. However he tells me that after the rest day it's like starting all overagain with the lenses and is really ticking him off He wants to know does he need to have this rest day - he wont wear them if his eyes are sore - or will it be OK to wear them everyday without a rest?

thanks again

Carole

[John Smith]

Hi Carole,

There probably is no right answer here, I'm afraid.

Having a rest day is always a good idea, but if the following day is painful, I can understand not wanting to miss it.

I will say though, that the more the lenses are worn, the less likely the day after the rest day is to be awkward.

My advice would be to stay with the rest day if the optometrist suggested it, if not, then make the rest day a half-day (or less) wear time.

[Tammy Again]

if he's not having problems with the lenses, there's plenty of peeps on here that wear every day, when I wore lenses even though I was having probs for all sorts of reasons I wore them every day, and leaving them out did make em sore when I put em back in, it was like starting again with the wear time.

Though if they are sore of course leave em out, but don't feel you have top bother if there's not been problem if the fits right then why leave em out, does his vision improve for leaving the lenses out, or more to the point does his eyes get tired wearing them every day how does he feel?

if not then only leave em out if it's a bad eye day.

and after he's had em out for a day when they have been sore, he must be incredibly brave to 'start again' when he's putting them back in so if he's having a good spell and having them in every day why pre-empt a bad spell by leaving them out for no reason....

does the hosp think that his eye's get tired, I find that KC eyes get tired anyway, I put it down to them having to extra work trying to focus, thats gonna be worse on the days you leave the lenses out, after all if normal eyes need glasses, deliberatly not wearing them can make eyes tired and lead to headaches, why leave eyes without correction needlessly unless they are sore to start off with.

Tam

[Andrew MacLean]

When I started wearing lenses (in Aberdeen) I was told to take a day off wearing them every week.

I tried hard to comply; sometimes with extreme difficulty as I do not work a standard Monday to Friday week.

When I moved to Glasgow I attended the contact lens clinic at the old Eye Infirmary (now closed and its services moved to Gartnavel). I mentioned to the Optometrist, when she asked how long I was wearing my lenses each day, that I had a day off every week. She asked, "why, do you have a problem?"

As John says, there is no right answer to the conundrum, "should I wear my lenses every day".

Andrew

[GarethB]

I was told to take a rest day every week which like Andrew is not always possible to sometimes I will have a two day break or if on holiday only wear the lenses when i need too.

It is also recomended my many optoms not to exceed a total wear time of 8 hours for those of us who work is inpracticle so I folllow the suggestion of other optoms not to exceed 12 hours per day and where possible give my eyes a half hour break per day at lunchtime. Somthing harder for kids as that is the time they want to be with their mates playing games.

The first time I started taking braks it was hard but like most things the more you do it the easier it gets.

I think the optoms play it safe with KC patients because our corneas are already thin, they do not want the lenses we use cause damage. This is because to circulate the tears over the cornea the lenses need to move a little bit so the concern is that over wearing will make the eyes dry so increase the friction between the cornea and lens.

Your other post about itchy eyes and heres another question; when they eyeas are itching most what sort of activities is david doing?

[Carole Rutherford]

David has never been told to take a rest day he is doing so because he has read the posts on here and decided he should be doing it too

He is wearing his lenses between 8 and 10 hours each day. He likes the freedom they give him and although I know that there are days when his eyes are very sensitive - which may or may not be down to his autism. He never gives in to it. I admire his persistence and perseverance with this. But again it maybe or maybe not down to the autism. People with autism are very focused and once they have chosen a route they will stick with it. That’s why it’s a great pity that many workplaces will not even give them a trial. Whereas some companies will only ever employ someone with autism because of their attention of details and the fact that they rarely give up on something. And I am now off on a David tangent so I will shut up.

I may still be the one posting for him but he does read himself so he can read this and then have words with me

Carole

[Amarpal]

In my opinion, I dont think there is anything wrong with missing the break day, yes, it is beneficial, but 8-10 hours a day is a good lens wearing time. I wear mine for about 15 hours a day, almost everyday, and have no real problems. Maybe just try cutting down wear time during the day instead of leaving them out the whole day. Or maybe even trying the one lens at a time idea? Hope you find a solution David!

[Andrew MacLean]

I think I say Gareth posting at one time about how helpful he found an hour off wearing lenses at about the middle of the day.

I used this strategy sometimes. It also gives an opportunity to pop in any drops that may be required.

Andrew

[Barney]

I think he needs to discuss it with whoever is treating him. They'll know the full background.

For my own part, I've worn RGP and before that hard lenses for 16 hours a day seven days a week for over forty years. I attend a leading hospital and no one has ever suggested I do differently. Whether that has caused any harm of any kind I don't know.

[GarethB]

It is on another thread, but there are just as many journals stating the problems of KC and the issues of over wearing lenses as ther are journals stating that KC and lenses has no adverse affect either.

20 years ago when I first had lenses I was advised to take rest days, but being a stuborn teenager I never did

So very much a case if in doubt play it safe.