RGP lenses meet sunglasses

April 23, 2006 4:56 PM

EyewearBehavingBadlyFilter: My contacts refuse to play nice with store-bought sunglasses. Help!

Background: I'm blessed with the double whammy of severe myopia (c. 20/1200) and astigmatism. For the past sixteen years or so, I've worn RGP contacts, which has produced that common side effect known as spectacle blur. While my optometrist is familiar with spectacle blur, he doesn't know if it's related to another problem: store-bought sunglasses bring on instant eye strain and eventual headaches. I've got no clue if my contacts are causing this problem, and Google-fu has failed to clarify matters. (Please note that I cannot switch back to soft contacts--they're no longer effective.) Has anyone else had this experience? If so, any suggestions for brands that might alleviate the problem?

posted by thomas j wise to health & fitness (4 comments total)

Does the lense type make a difference? ie., does high spec, optical glass, high quality polycarb, or cheapo plastic make a difference?
posted by PurplePorpoise at 6:03 PM on April 23, 2006

do the sunglasses have polarized lenses? my mother has trouble seeing with polarized lenses.
posted by clarahamster at 8:58 PM on April 23, 2006

Where are you buying your store-bought sunglasses? WalMart or Sunglass Hut or the camping store? It really *does* make a difference. I used to have problems with cheap sunglasses, but when I upgraded to better sunglasses (not Oakley level, but $70/ pr (15 years ago)), the eyestrain problems mostly went away. Have you tried polarised sunglasses, or BluBlockers? When Mr R was wearing toric soft lenses, he found that he really needed polarised lenses in his sunglasses. (Having never been able to wear soft lenses, I have no direct experience with that aspect.) My sister wears Oakleys with her RGPs nearly year round.
posted by jlkr at 9:04 PM on April 23, 2006

I also get headaches when I wear sunglasses and contact lenses. The only solution I found was to bite the bullet and get my sunglasses from my eye doctor. They're not prescription -- they're just higher quality than the ones I was buying in drugstores and thrift stores, I guess.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:20 AM on April 24, 2006