Who wears glasses or contacts?

MSDeltaFlt said:
Now at 41 I'm -20.5/-20.5 with 3 opters of astygmatism.
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Holy :censored:. I guess I don't get to complain about -6.5/-6.75 with a touch of astigmatism correction, then.

To answer the OP's question, I hate wearing my glasses, so I wear contacts for up to 16 hours. If I'm having a bad eye day and it's a slow night, I'll let them sit in the case and rehydrate between calls.
 
I wear glasses. I can't wear contacts because I am to "squint" eyed. I am looking into lasik.
 
I wear Focus brand Night and Day contacts. You can wear them for up to 30 days in a row with just cleaning as needed. The 0300 calls just require a few extra blinks. They're more expensive than regular soft contacts but a lot cheaper than corrective surgery.
My eyesight really isn't that bad, but I was fitted for contacts when I was in high school to improve for sports. Without contacts I can see pretty well, even at night. But when I have them in, I am like an owl. The dust and dry air don't bug me too much, but when I get one of my dog's hairs under the contact, I look like a pirate with conjunctivitis.
 
I wear gas permiable contacts. I've had them for over 20 yrs now. I have glasses for night time/early am. I've worn mine in the field for those 20 yrs (field being full-time job as archaeologist), on wildfires, working on a helicopter and also as an EMT.
Working a 24 hr shift, I try to take them out at least once if we are having a slow night, but usually I just use eye drops to keep them hydrated and wear them the full 24. When I get home in the morning I'll take them out and wear my glasses around the house for a while.
 
Contacts during the day, glasses at night. I can't sleep in contacts, even the extended wear ones, without drying my eyes out. I have an insert for my facepiece, and I put it in when I switch to glasses. Saving up for Lasik too... can't wait.
 
I've been wearing contacts for 5 years now. I'll wear contacts during the day, but if we get an early morning call, I'll put on my glasses, because I have the daily disposable ones.
 
I wear contacts, but I am only -2.00 both eyes
 
Im just like Linuss. My nickname was "Eagle Eye" at basic training but I still prefer contacts to glasses. There's downsides to both. With contacts you have improved peripheral vision but you have to deal with dust and them drying out. With glasses you're peripheral vision is limited (depending on how bad your eyesight is without glasses) but they're pretty easy to keep clean if you take are of them.

In the military contacts are a no-go in any field environment or similar situation because of how many chemicals can get into your eyes with contacts and how much of a pain they are to keep from dying out.

IMO: Do both. Wear your contacts if you can get them to be as good as your glasses prescription or even better. Carry around some eye drops with you to help prevent them from drying out. Or you can do what I do, I ALWAYS carry my glasses in a hard case with me, and my contact lense case/solution just in case my eyes get tired. It may sound like a little much, but I hate glasses and I've had one too many days spent in pain because sand got into my contacts.
 
I had Lasik a few years back, but now only need "reading" glasses. I bought a few pairs of the cheap ones at "Dollar Tree" and stash them in the ambulance somewhere just in case I get toned out in the middle of the night and forget to grab the glasses on the way out the door.
 
Glasses for the past 25 or so years. I have worn contacts during day shifts, but they suck at nights and i can't sleep in them.
 
It's seeming like the contacts may be a good option. Where I work we only have 2-3 hard posts, we run system status management so we are in the truck 99% of the time.

I think I'm gonna stick with the glasses for a while until I finish school and get switched over to full time then hopefully my benefits will cover the contacts :cool:
 
NVRob said:
It's seeming like the contacts may be a good option. Where I work we only have 2-3 hard posts, we run system status management so we are in the truck 99% of the time.

I think I'm gonna stick with the glasses for a while until I finish school and get switched over to full time then hopefully my benefits will cover the contacts :cool:
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I would suggest when you get contacts to go with the kind you can sleep in. It makes things alot easier, then you don't have to deal with glasses fogging,which can be a real pain.
 
NVRob said:
So a while back I took my DOT physical and failed due to my eyesight. So I went and got myself some shiny new glasses. My question is who wears contacts out in the field? The glasses aren't bad but I'd rather wear contacts so I don't have to deal with constantly changing glasses from Rx sunglasses to my regular glasses.

I can see well enough to do patient care without them but I'm required to wear them to drive by my service and by the DOT. It messes with my head and eyes to go from corrected to uncorrected constantly though.

I keep hearing how much of a PITA contacts are in the field due to dust and what not.

Thoughts?
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I wear contacts in the field and usually there arent any issues besides the inevitible dryness that sets in after a long day. I always make sure to have rewetting drops in my pocket, and i keep the saline solution at the station. Maybe once or twice per shift ill just take them out, clean them with the solution and pop em right back in. That always does the trick. They just need to by hydrated after every 6-8 hours depending on the person, then they feel good as new.

EDIT: Another thing people overlook is to stay hydrated if you want your contacts to stay moist longer. Drink plenty of water and it will help greatly.
 
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I wear google-eyes (glasses) and I have for roughly 16 years (since High School). I had fleeting thoughts of contacts, but I just can't get over the touching my eyeballs part. *shudder* Thankfully, my vision is relatively good. Only mild astigmatism with my right eye being 20/20 and my left is 20/25. My only problem with my glasses is BSI/PPE. The safety glasses I got dont fit quite right over my google eyes. Gotta find out if my insurance will cover prescription BSI/PPE glasses.
 
FYI to those who suffer from glasses constantly fogging up, there are certain wipes and sprays you can buy that coats the lenses with an anti-fog coat. I don't know how well it would work with prescription civillian glasses but the stuff I got from Revision thru the Army works pretty well with ballistic eyewear.
 
EMT2B said:
I had fleeting thoughts of contacts, but I just can't get over the touching my eyeballs part. *shudder*
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You adjust. After years of daily contact wear I can repeatedly poke myself in the eye without blinking. The first few weeks are weird, though.
 
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