contact question

[longmover]

I have been wearing hard contacts for six years now and have always used the 'push contact onto eye' method rather than the 'straight onto the cornea' way. Does the way you put the lens onto your eye effect the way that they work? Will the contact lens work better if placed straight onto the cornea than pushed onto from the side?

Been wondering this for some time

[Anna Mason]

Not a clue but its a good question perhaps someone will answer you eventually

[longmover]

can anybody shed any light on this?

[longhoc]

Hi there

I think we're all a bit stumped for an answer on this one ! It probably needs an optometrist to explain accurately how a lens "settles" on the surface of the eye. My guess -- based on nothing more than over two decades of lens wear -- is that there's no difference between the "plonk it directly on the front of the eye" and the (from what I can tell from your description) "place it on the periphery and let it find the right place itself" methods.

The mechanics of a hard lens are -- again, only a layman's guess -- that it doesn't ever sit directly on the tissue of the eye itself. It "floats" on a thin tear film. This means that it will migrate from pretty much wherever you place it initially to where it should sit. The back curve of the lens will only ever sit happily on the centre of the eye because of the angle of the curve. The only exception is of course when you get that dreaded "behind the eyelid" misplaced lens which you might well have experienced (the one where you have to do a lot of jiggling to get the lens either out again or into the right position.)

So, the lens will end up in the place it needs to be. Once there, it will perform exactly as it should.

I'd say the only reason to try the "directly on the front" insertion would be if you experience discomfort while putting the lens in -- especially if you have to use more than a small amount of force or you think you might risk abrading the front of the eye while you move the lens around. But if it's okay for you, do what works ! If you're in any doubt, maybe next time you're at one of the regular check ups with the optometrist you see, just pop the lens out, and show her/him how you put in again.

Best wishes

Chris

[longmover]

thanks for that some useful stuff in that reply, I have a check up this month so we let you all know.


bet you cant wait

[Andrew MacLean]

longmover

I reckon the 'directly onto the cornea' approach would reduce the danger of ulcerating the cornea as the sharp edge of the lens slides on from the side. I'd love to hear from an optometrist on this. Any takers?

Andrew

ps good question!!

[Lynn White]

OOpps! Better late than never!

OK... how you put it in does not affect the way it works. However, putting it in from the side and pushing it into place can potentially cause abrasions. I literally cringe when I hear of patients doing this. The potential for damage is always there and yes, I know there are lots of you who have never had an issue doing this but I have seen plenty of nasty corneas as result of this practice.

I know it is difficult but do try and place the lens on the cornea straight away.

btw... pushing on from the side is NO problem at all for soft lenses. In fact, they centre themselves wherever you put them on. We are only talking about rigid corneal lenses here.

Lynn

[sarkac]

Just an observation here, when I place my rgp right onto the cornea , i get the vision I want, probably because there is less trauma to the eye, provided that the lens had enough moisture in it , and did not sting when i inserted it into my eye .
When I use the sideways technique, my eye gets sore, red , and tears a lot, get a bit of clouding,and takes a while to settle it.
Im not sure if they work differently at all, but the yes I do feel that direct way is better anyways.
But unfortunately most of the time I end up using the sideways technique, as the moisture between the lens and my forefinger makes the lens slip, when I am inserting it into my eye.This might be because I clean my lenses and my fingers,and try and insert the lens when its not too dry to avoid a very painful sting in my eye

[longmover]

next question, whats the best method for straight onto the cornea? i cant get my eye to look straight ahead at the point i want to put it on

its driving me mad

thanks in advance.

[Lizb]

i found to get a lens onto my cornea straight off i have to focus on a point past my finger rather than look at my finger, else the lens doesnt make it into my eye. This may help you