Switching to soft contact lenses after 20 years of hard lenses. Tips?

April 1, 2018 6:39 PM

I've worn RGP lenses since I was a kid, but my new optometrist convinced me to go with soft lenses (30-day disposable). She didn't give me much info about the new lenses or the differences between the two. Has anyone made a similar switch? Any "real" tips/tricks/warnings that a doctor wouldn't necessarily tell me?
posted by Flying Saucer to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

The soft contacts are harder to put in, because they're bigger and can potentially fold.

The soft contacts should also be much more comfortable.

I wore rgp for 15 years and tried soft. I never adjusted, really, and got Lasik. The rgp give really crisp vision by comparison, and I only tried soft once my eyes felt really uncomfortable with the hard. Lasik solved all problems.
posted by Kalmya at 7:08 PM on April 1, 2018

I went in the opposite direction. Some differences:

1) Removing them will be different (plucking instead of popping)
2) They're easier to damage, as you might expect
3) Greater likelihood of them cheerfully wandering off to a corner of your eye ("wait, why am I suddenly unable to see?...oh, it's over there")
4) Accidentally falling asleep with them in, while still suboptimal (unless you're getting day/night contacts), is much less likely to cause abrasions
posted by thomas j wise at 7:11 PM on April 1, 2018

There are videos on YouTube that show different ways of putting in soft contacts. The way my optometrist showed me didn't work for me, but I found a way that works. Once you get used to it, it's easy.

You'll probably start out with a no-rub all-purpose solution (soaking, wetting, cleaning). Supposedly, it cleans the lenses overnight without rubbing, but I find I need to rub a little, which is no problem. If the lenses start getting cloudy, you may need a product that removes protein deposits.

There is another cleaning method that uses peroxide. If the all-purpose isn't working for you, you might try something like Clear Care.
posted by wryly at 7:20 PM on April 1, 2018

Best answer: I wore RGP's for a few years before switching to soft. They're definitely way more comfortable. There's no adjustment period where your eye has to get used to them. And you don't feel like you're being stabbed in the eye with a needle if you get a speck of dust in your eye.

Putting them in can be tricky at first, but you will get the hang of it. Depending on how thin your lenses are, they might be a little hard to get out, but again, you'll get the hang of it. They are more delicate, but they're actually fairly sturdy.

Although I've heard about it from other people, and obviously thomas j wise had this problem, I've never had trouble with them wandering off into the corner of my eye.

I can see the temptation to sleep in them. Don't do that.
posted by radioamy at 7:31 PM on April 1, 2018

After years and years, I've only recently figured out a much better way to remove my soft lenses. I always used to just quickly pinch them, with the aim of minimal touching-eye contact. Used to take a couple, or few attempts each time.

Figured out if I just rest my dry finger on the lens in my eye for a second or two, then shift my gaze to the left/right and then complete pinch with another finger, it seems to work first time, always.

Also, putting them in-- they have an correct orientation, for some brands they laser an indicator on the side to make sure, for those that don't you want the lens to look more like a rice-bowl then a shallow bowl.
posted by Static Vagabond at 7:54 PM on April 1, 2018

Best answer: Similar to you, I also made the switch in adulthood after having worn RGP lenses since I was about 13. Positive differences: I found RGP lenses very uncomfortable, sometimes outright painful, easy to end up popping into the wrong part of the eye and having to go through the process of locating them in my eye and awkwardly moving them into the pupils, the smallest spec of dust touching them was extraordinarily painful, and challenging to clean. (That said, as another commenter noted, soft contacts too can wander, though I find this happens with far less frequency that I experienced with RGP. They are harder to locate and adjust back into the pupils when this happens though).

Hardest part of making the switch is definitely learning to put them in and take out as it is an entirely different process than you are used to. Would definitely recommend having someone from your optometrists office sit with you and go through several rounds of taking your soft lenses in and taking them out so you get the hang of it (one of the assistants did this for me when I made the switch and it was invaluable).

Couple things to be conscious of:

Soft lenses, unlike RGP, can get turned “inside out”, so you’ll need to learn to tell the difference (if it is “right” it should fold like a taco in your hand and will also simply feel “right” in your eye, but takes a bit to get used to this).

My RGP lenses always came with a mark on the lens itself indicating right from left. There is really no way to do this with soft lenses, so you’ll want to be extra careful not to get them mixed up since it will be challenging to right that ship.
posted by The Gooch at 8:03 PM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

I made a very similar switch and successfully. I went from rgp's to two weekly soft lenses and the best part for me was that it was no longer a huge expense if a lens went missing or got damaged. Just open a new one! I am now using dailies and that part is great. I did not notice a decrease in sharpness immediately when I switched to soft lenses, but I have observed dramatic differences in sharpness between brands of lenses. My doctor says I have a very mild astigmatism - so mild it doesn't warrant a prescription but enough that some lenses can slightly push my eye to the right shape and some can't. So every time I have to change brands, I end up trying a lot of different ones. If you don't like the first kind your doctor prescribes, speak up - there are so many types and they should be willing to let you have trials of several kinds. You may notice differences in comfort, sharpness, how much they move, etc. That said, when I switched from rgp's to soft, the very first brand I tried was great and I wore it for several years til it was discontinued....
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:51 PM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

I made that switch about 20 years ago and I loved that I no longer had to deal with the pain of getting something in my eye/behind the lens. Putting them wasn't that much different, but taking them out was tricky at first and cleaning them was more of an ordeal than with RGPs. As others have mentioned, they are very comfortable, which makes it easy to fall asleep in them.

However, I missed the better correction I got with RGPs and decided to switch back. In the meantime, the former optometrist had left and the new doc was very supportive of my decision. He did not like soft lenses and had a poster in his office with a dozen or so pictures of horrible eye injuries/conditions attributed to soft lenses (e.g., wearing them too long, which is easy to do given how comfortable they are; improper cleaning). Frankly, I wouldn't necessarily consider those to be reasons not to wear gas perms, but it was an effective warning regarding proper wear and maintenance.
posted by she's not there at 9:21 PM on April 1, 2018

Seconding the endorsement of daily disposable soft lenses. I still shudder at my memories of chipped RGPs that might as well have been thumbtacks, and of biweekly hydrophilics that might as well have been Petri dishes.

It’s honestly life-changing to discard the lenses at bedtime instead of going through any kind of cleaning/storage routine. I like being able to keep spares on hand so I can deal with the unexpected — crashing at a friend’s place, sudden dust storm, or what have you.
posted by armeowda at 9:33 PM on April 1, 2018

+1 on the inside-out issue being a new thing to learn. When looked at from the side, it should be hemispherical. If it has a flat 'lip', like a soup plate, it's inside out.

I've never worn rigid lenses myself, but compared to friends who have, soft lenses are 'stickier': I've never blinked or sneezed or jarred one out. I have had one or two float right off my eye when swimming and opened my eyes underwater though.
(And a note on that - softs are absorbent like sponges, so take them out or wear goggles in the pool or you'll end up with chlorine in your eyes all day.)

If you find your eyes a bit irritated, try changing saline solutions. I've found my eyes like some brands better than others.

Don't sleep in them. Falling asleep on an airplane will be uncomfortable; leaving them in all night can cause injury.

You may find that you don't get quite 30 days of comfortable wear, or maybe you're on day 37 of the same pair and going strong. This is fine. Start a new pair when they're uncomfortable.

And yes, inexpensive short-term lenses are great for their disposability. Drop one on a gross bathroom floor? Meh, you've got spares in your bag. Packing for a three day weekend? No case or cleaning stuff, just grab 6 or 8 of the little blisters.

If your prescription is different in each eye, grab a marker and put a big R and L on each package so you don't mix them up when you can barely see.
posted by bartleby at 10:09 PM on April 1, 2018

Best answer: My uncorrected vision is very poor. I started with softs about age 13, RGPs since about 15, with a few switches back here and there due to persuasive optometrists. I will never give up my precious RGPs again.

With softs, I get halos, and my normally-nonexistent astigmatism develops over the course of a year to be very severe -- to the point where the same optometrist who made me switch sees me after a year and gets upset about how they could have missed this the first time, I guess my cornea is just very floppy or something -- so that night vision becomes a nightmare. Also, softs give me blurred vision, not crisp. I work with computers and can't tolerate the fuzziness after being accustomed to, you know, actually seeing well. Both times I tried softs I've switched back to RGP and the astigmatism has retreated and I go back to crisp and clear vision. For me, it's well worth the "auuughghghg something in my eye" -- and I say that as someone with no eyelashes to defend against dust.

Softs are easier to lose when you drop one, because they don't click on the floor when they land, and they don't reflect flashlight light as well so they're harder to find. If you have to clean them, you need to be delicate while handling them because they're easy to rip. But it is nice to always be able to find contact solution that you can use.

If you do insist on switching to softs, what The Gooch says about them easily turning inside out is correct. I was taught to look at the lens profile (as it sits on the tip of my finger, waiting to be inserted) -- if the shape is a nice regular cup, it's rightside out, and if it curls slightly outward at the edges or is v-shaped (see also the photo under Method 4 here) it's inside out.
posted by sldownard at 10:36 PM on April 1, 2018

If you can tolerate hard lenses, consider instead looking into Orthokeratology.
Ortho-k lenses are rigid lenses that are worn at night instead and temporarily reshape your cornea to correct vision, and when taken out in the morning, provide you with clear crisp vision all day long. After a year or so, you'll only have to wear them every second night, which is awesome.
I was absolutely miserable with soft lenses for the 10 or so years I used them. I had frequent eye infections, cysts, and constant dryness, redness and irritation. I would frequently rip lenses with hands roughened from the garden or paint mediums and solvents. I would forget I was wearing them and rub my eyes and oops they pop right out no matter where you are or what you're doing.
Ortho-k lenses have a bit of a startup cost, but compartievely to soft lenses only cost slightly more a year.
They are amazing. Really truly.
posted by OnefortheLast at 10:59 PM on April 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

I made a very similar switch and successfully. I went from rgp's to two weekly soft lenses and the best part for me was that it was no longer a huge expense if a lens went missing or got damaged.
This. For me, the only RGP experience worse than the pain of getting dust in them, was the occasional process of dropping one somewhere and then spending ages trying to find it (perhaps with the support of the other RGP in my other eye). Not a scene of grace or dignity. RGPs have an amazing talent for rolling away from the location where they originally landed.

A couple of tips to add:
1. It can take a few days to adjust your vision to a new lens prescription. Just because you can't balance your vision or see perfectly at first - does not mean the prescription is wrong.
2. Water in contact with lenses is a bad idea with regard to its ability to give you an eye infection - so you want to wash and then thoroughly dry your hands (on a clean towel) before handling lenses.
posted by rongorongo at 11:04 PM on April 1, 2018

I wore RGP for a while as a teenager. My prescription got BETTER with them. But they were uncomfortable, and I switched to soft (first long term ones, now dailies). The soft are more comfortable, so I wore them for ~18 hours a day when I got them, and that was bad for my eyes.

Now I wear my glasses 95% of the time.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 6:10 AM on April 2, 2018

This may be an idiosyncratic issue, but I found that soft contacts were way more likely to move around if I had water splashed on my face/eyes. This was probably something I ran into more often than the average person, since I'm a whitewater kayaker.
posted by craven_morhead at 8:39 AM on April 2, 2018

Best answer: Another thing, If you have astigmatism, be prepared for frequent and annoying air bubbles to occur under soft contact lenses and for your vision to always be a bit blurry as well, even with the more expensive astigmantim lenses specifically designed to prevent this
posted by OnefortheLast at 1:12 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

One additional comment I have, from reading the responses above, is that people seem to have very different individual experiences of contact lenses. My perspective is that I would never contemplate going back to RPGs from (Accuview silicon hydrogel 2 weekly) soft lenses - but that is because I have never had any problems with lenses tearing, or losing lenses or having air bubbles, blurred vision, etc. I have no idea whether that is because of me or because of the lenses - but I would never have had the chance to make a beneficial move unless I had listened to the advice of my optician and decided to try out the new option.
posted by rongorongo at 11:02 PM on April 2, 2018