Toric contact Lenses
Discussion
I have a toric lens for one of my eyes.
I found it a little problematic at first, and had to build up wearing time. No one told me about having to insert it with the weighted end at the bottom!
Now I can wear it as long as the other normal mid water one.
And my sight is definitely better for it.
I found it a little problematic at first, and had to build up wearing time. No one told me about having to insert it with the weighted end at the bottom!
Now I can wear it as long as the other normal mid water one.
And my sight is definitely better for it.

I had torics for about 2 years. They may have improved but when I had them they were 400 quid and kept drying out and slipping off axis. My main correction for astigmatism ie alomost purely cylindrical prescription. I returned to glasses as the torics were particularly crap for driving. I am considering trying hard lenses.
nonegreen said:
I returned to glasses as the torics were particularly crap for driving. I am considering trying hard lenses.
Actually my toric lens is a bit crap for driving, especially at night, or with the roof down
My monthly disposables cost £17/month, and have gone up to £21/month for one toric, one normal, so it's hardly a bank breaker.
My optician is threatening me with hard lenses because she said I'd get better sight out of them, and I'd be more kinder to my eyes.
But they just look scary and hard!!!

I've been wearing hard lenses for around 15 years - and had my current pair for around the last 8. I suffer from astigmatism.
I find hard lenses so much less hassle that soft ones. They don't bend, flip over in your eye, dry out or get trashed. If they fall out, you can run them under the tap and pop them back in. They give much clearer vision too - I originally started with them when I was involved with competitive long range target shooting - pin point accuracy required.
The only downside I can think of is that I sometimes have vivid dreams about trying to put dinner plates into my eyes!!
I find hard lenses so much less hassle that soft ones. They don't bend, flip over in your eye, dry out or get trashed. If they fall out, you can run them under the tap and pop them back in. They give much clearer vision too - I originally started with them when I was involved with competitive long range target shooting - pin point accuracy required.
The only downside I can think of is that I sometimes have vivid dreams about trying to put dinner plates into my eyes!!
titiany said:
cy88 said:
If they fall out, you can run them under the tap and pop them back in.
really?
And don't they hurt at the end of the day to the point where you HAVE to get them out of your eyes?
I have toric monthly disposables and they do dry out for me at least after 10 hours of wear staring at a PC screen - but then I don't blink enough
You should be aware that they also take a while to 'settle down' in the morning.I have GP lenses (due to Keratokonus!) and have very little experience of soft lenses. (Had them for about a year when I was 16 before my KC developed)
I can wear mine for 18 hours a day with no problems. Really would like disposables though but unfortunately this won't happen! (heck, a pair of specs would be nice but they don't work!)
Only real down side to GP is if you do any water sports (oo-er!) as they can fall out!
I can wear mine for 18 hours a day with no problems. Really would like disposables though but unfortunately this won't happen! (heck, a pair of specs would be nice but they don't work!)
Only real down side to GP is if you do any water sports (oo-er!) as they can fall out!
titiany said:
cy88 said:
If they fall out, you can run them under the tap and pop them back in.
really?
And don't they hurt at the end of the day to the point where you HAVE to get them out of your eyes?
I've never had too much of a problem luckily. Unless it's really dusty (and then I'm sure people wearing soft lenses would be affected).
In fact the only time I've had problems with my eyes was when I tried soft lenses for a period.
When I was younger I used to do a party trick - tapping the end of a biro against the lense whilst it was in my eye - made a satisfying little tapping sound. Very silly, in retrospect, but hard lenses are very strong, and the gas permeable ones nowadays are just as comfortable as soft lenses. Once you get over the "idea" that its not normal to stick a little disc over your eye, I usually forget they're there.
Give them a go. My optician let me try out a pair before committing.
Bit of history. Had GP for over 20 years but found that since Allergan Clean and Soak got pulled off the market that I was becoming "intolerent" to the Protein deposits after a year or so. I tried monthly's and was initially ok. The last time I bought some tho they did not work so well and went back to my original optician(30 years ago!). I went on the net and the prices are about double that of standard lenses (£60-£75) but in one case 12 months supply was only £80. I think the problem which is mainly with my left eye is causing me to feel tired more often so am looking at Toric or a return to GP. I think I'll need industrial cleaner tho. Thanks for all the replies it really helps to get the feedback!
telecat said:
Bit of history. Had GP for over 20 years but found that since Allergan Clean and Soak got pulled off the market that I was becoming "intolerent" to the Protein deposits after a year or so. I tried monthly's and was initially ok. The last time I bought some tho they did not work so well and went back to my original optician(30 years ago!). I went on the net and the prices are about double that of standard lenses (£60-£75) but in one case 12 months supply was only £80. I think the problem which is mainly with my left eye is causing me to feel tired more often so am looking at Toric or a return to GP. I think I'll need industrial cleaner tho. Thanks for all the replies it really helps to get the feedback!
TBH I find that good old spit (saliva) is a marvellous cleaner. It's completely natural to your own body and full of enzymes that break down proteins very effecively!
Toric lenses are a bit of a miracle. I don't wear mine much, but I used to. Just the lens hassle factor, that's all.
They correct the astigmatisim by not being uniform around the axis of the lens. This means that if they rotate in your eye, you can't see properly.
As a consequence they are shaped such that when you blink, they are forced into the correct orientation. The trouble is that if they dry out, even slghtly, they don't orentate correctly.
The secret is to keep your fluids up.
Keep blinking drinking.
I found that most disconcerting when using the computer, because I have a tendancy to stare at the monitor without blinking.
Once you get used to them, you don't think about the extra blinking. Aside from the vision difference, you'd not know they were there.
They correct the astigmatisim by not being uniform around the axis of the lens. This means that if they rotate in your eye, you can't see properly.
As a consequence they are shaped such that when you blink, they are forced into the correct orientation. The trouble is that if they dry out, even slghtly, they don't orentate correctly.
The secret is to keep your fluids up.
Keep blinking drinking.
I found that most disconcerting when using the computer, because I have a tendancy to stare at the monitor without blinking.
Once you get used to them, you don't think about the extra blinking. Aside from the vision difference, you'd not know they were there.
cy88 said:
telecat said:
Bit of history. Had GP for over 20 years but found that since Allergan Clean and Soak got pulled off the market that I was becoming "intolerent" to the Protein deposits after a year or so. I tried monthly's and was initially ok. The last time I bought some tho they did not work so well and went back to my original optician(30 years ago!). I went on the net and the prices are about double that of standard lenses (£60-£75) but in one case 12 months supply was only £80. I think the problem which is mainly with my left eye is causing me to feel tired more often so am looking at Toric or a return to GP. I think I'll need industrial cleaner tho. Thanks for all the replies it really helps to get the feedback!
TBH I find that good old spit (saliva) is a marvellous cleaner. It's completely natural to your own body and full of enzymes that break down proteins very effecively!
I have read that it's not advisable to use your spit on your lenses. There can be bacteria in your mouth which can cause blindness if they get into your eyes. It might be an old wives tale but the info came from a pretty responsible source.
z4monster said:
I have read that it's not advisable to use your spit on your lenses. There can be bacteria in your mouth which can cause blindness if they get into your eyes. It might be an old wives tale but the info came from a pretty responsible source.


Absolutely!
I wear contacts, have done for many many years now (though they are not helping with my vision right this minute - Toric don't do an Alcohol adjusting lense) and a few years back I had quite a serious infection that my optician attributed to using saliva as a cleaner/lubricant.
Took weeks of treatment and I could have had serious permemant damage had it not been caught in time.
Definately recommend against it
edited due to spelling mistake caused by malfunctioning eyes
>> Edited by wizzpig on Friday 22 July 22:48
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really?