BootsnAll Travel Community

I just rgp contacts this year and I'm worried about traveling with them. They seem to fall out every now and then and they are easy to break/lose. Plus, my eyes are so sensitive to solutions that there's only one brand I can use.

I guess I'm debating going back to soft lenses or getting glasses.

I could suggest a 3rd option. Consider getting eye surgery. I did it about 4 years ago, my sister had hers seven years ago. Best thing we ever did. Especially, when you're travelling to places off the beaten track....I can't imagine what my trip from Capetown to Cairo would have been like if I'd had to mess around with contacts in the dark when we were bush camping and all I had to wash my hands with was that alcohol based lotion you run into them.

I hear that from a lot of people. Unforunately, I have a degenerative disorder that gradually weakens the cornea, which makes laser surgery impossible.

I've read about Night & Day disposable contacts which can be left in for a month. The only problem is that I'm guessing I'd need a whole years worth to bring with me. Which brings me to another question: has anyone bought disposable contacts while overseas?

I'm sorry that I cannot speak to the question originally posted. However, I wanted to say that laser eye surgery carries some risks and does not always have the hoped-for results.

I had Lasik surgery before a year-long RTW trip in 2001. I went to a very well-regarded surgeon who had performed the procedure on two of my friends (both of whom are still enjoying perfect vision many years later). The first procedure still left me with quite a bit of near-sightedness (apparently my eyes responded differently than the majority of peoples', for which the machine had been calibrated). A second procedure three months later (and before the start of my trip) left me with perfect vision, and I was very glad not to have to worry about dust or finding lens solution in Burkina Faso, Laos, etc. However, my vision has slowly deteriorated ever since the procedure, and now, 5 years later, I am at the point of needing contacts again. The two Lasik procedures left me with a tendency for dry-eye problems, so I am loath to have a third procedure.

Again, just wanted to share my experience, for anyone else who might read this, to show that surgery is an option that should be considered carefully.

are daily dispossable an option? i am fond of them because i can lose one or two or three and it's really no big deal as they are cheap as chips.

quote:

I've read about Night & Day disposable contacts which can be left in for a month. The only problem is that I'm guessing I'd need a whole years worth to bring with me.

I wear these and have done for 5 years or so with no problems. I've just picked up a 6 month supply for my trip later this month - i'd be wary buying contacts from a supplier I wasn't used to, as my optician tells me that lenses from different manufactuers can have subtle differences in shape that may not suit your eyes. I actually wanted to switch to a different brand that would correct my astigmatism about a month ago, but he wasn't happy with me trying out a new sort so soon before i left - based on this, if you want to use a product like this, start as soon as you can to give yourself as much time as possible to find out how they work with your eyes and to pick up and correct any problems before you leave.

I plan to get eye surgery in the next couple of years so this whole sight thing stops being such a pain!

So can disposable contacts be purchased abroad (not ordered through your eye care provider) or do you need a whole year's worth from the start?

Glasses are starting to sound appealing.

Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Creelove:
I've read about Night & Day disposable contacts which can be left in for a month. The only problem is that I'm guessing I'd need a whole years worth to bring with me. Which brings me to another question: has anyone bought disposable contacts while overseas?

Night and Day contacts are the best thing that ever happened to me. Seriously improved my quality of life. How many purchases can you say that about?

The factory says they last for 30 days. I find that if I keep them clean and treat them well, I can get 60-90 days out of each pair. I'm travelling with a 12 month supply, no problem. They're just sitting in a ziploc bag in my toilet kit. (NOTE: I'm pretty sure that they only make soft Night and Day contacts - no hard ones.)

I brought a year's supply of my soft contacts with me... Mine are one-month disposables, so it was 4 little boxes with 6 lenses each, not exactly a major space problem. Solution was easy enough to find abroad, if you're lucky enough that the brand you can use is Renu you will have no problems in Europe, Asia, or Australia that I know of, I never bought any solution abroad, but I know I saw Renu-brand solution all the time.

i just picked up a box of daily disposables for 600 Baht/eye for a 30 day supply. I've been bad and left them in for a few days but i think that is really bad for the eyes.

i don't wear them every day so the cost is just fine.