February 24, 2011

Transitioning to Contact Lenses / Dry Eyes Gone?

A little over a year ago I decided to cease the use of contact lenses and strictly use glasses. However, now that a year has passed I decided that it would be the opportune time to visit an optometrist and get fitted for new contact lenses. I was set on getting CooperVision Proclear 1-Day Contact Lenses as I recall my previous optometrist saying how you needn't have to worry about cleaning them since they are daily disposables. Even though daily disposables are a bit more expensive than 2 week or monthly contacts I wanted to give them a try.

When I arrived at my appointment and spoke to this new optometrist, I learned quite a bit. After a comprehensive eye exam, he stated that my eyes were quite healthy (which was great to hear from a professional) and that he saw no symptoms of dry eye. It was a bit of a shock to say the least, especially since I use eye drops everyday. He did state that I had mild blepharitis which didn't come as a surprise to me and said that I should just clean my eyelashes with baby shampoo twice daily to help alleviate the problem. I mentioned how I still get occasional 'string' in my eyes and asked his opinion of it. The optometrist stated that it is most likely because of the blepharitis and I find it odd because I've never read of 'stringy discharge' being a symptom of blepharitis but it is something to think about.

With that being said, I now had the option of getting either daily disposables, 2 week or monthly contacts and I opted for the 2 weeks. Today has been the first day of trying CooperVision's Avaira contacts; I notice they aren't very popular with contact wearer's but needless to say they feel fresh in the eyes so far. As for contact solution, this time around, I am trying out ClearCare.