Struggling to throw my contact lenses away!

Trevanian

When I first started wearing (soft) contact lenses, in around 1986, they were prescribed for wearing for six months, I think, before being replaced.

Over the years the technology has become better, they've become cheaper, and wear time has become shorter... Three months... One month...

Now I'm wearing two-week (water-wada-wada-oxygen-permeable-completely-inexpensive-state-of-the-art) contact lenses.

But damn, when I have to throw the little critters in the bin or down the drain after two weeks, I feel guilty as heck! I was wearing them only a moment ago, and they're still perfect. Some starving blind child somewhere could have their life transformed with these two soft little pieces of plastic I'm about to discard...

Now I'm dreading going onto one-week lenses. One-day lenses will have me in a psych-ward before I know it.

Yikes.

Is it only me?

SacrificialLoon

I wore the two-week contacts for a while before I got lazy, and went back to just wearing glasses. By the end of the two weeks they'd be very uncomfortable for me to wear, and I couldn't wait to get a new pair out. Oh, and I did clean them like I was told. :)

Xena

LMAO I'm the same way. I HATE throwing them away unless they are torn or something, it just feels wasteful! I have been known to wear the monthly ones for up to ~whispers~ 6 months.

changeling

Dude: Do you always do as you're told? I wear my once a month lenses till they start to feel funny or I can't see as well (usually about 2 months).

LOL,

changeling

Odrade

Yep, I have the 2 week type. Usually I wear them for 4-8 weeks before they start feeling funny. Then I toss 'em.

Trevanian

Oh I have to add that I do take them out and rinse and soak them every night. Do others do that with two-week lenses?

Theoretically I'm allowed to wear them for two weeks straight, and sleep in them, and perhaps I'd be happy to turf them out after that.

But I can't sleep in contact lenses, it feels strange to wake up and be able to see out the window lol!

Frequent_Fader_Miles

I have been known to wear the monthly ones for up to ~whispers~ 6 months.

Me too .....

Never had any problems with them.

sweetface2233

I don't throw them away that soon, not because it seems wasteful, but because I'm so cheap. I have 2 week contacts that I stretch to 4 weeks. I used to wear 1 month contacts that I had, at times, used for up to 6 months. They are just so expensive. Of course these are my EYES and I should probably use more of my money on them instead of all the sushi I like to eat.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Hard lenses didn't work well for me. My eyes weren't absorbing enough oxygen. Gas permeable made me very light sensative, and tended to make my eyes tired. I wore soft lenses for several years, but I developed protein deposits rather quickly which shortened their lifespan even with thorough cleaning. For years I wore glasses.

Then I had lasik. This is the greatest! No lenses, no glasses, no muss, no fuss. Perfect vision, should never be near-sighted again for the rest of my life. I may need some assistance from reading glasses in about a decade, but that's way better than bifocals.

Trevanian

My optometrist says that as you approach your 40s you shouldn't consider lasik because you will soon have to wear glasses again.

Damn.

In my 20s I thought I'd wait until the laser technology improves. Now it seems the tech is great but my eyes are getting too "old" LOL!

Struggling to throw my contact lenses away!

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