Does anyone here wear ONE contact?

[pk1959]

I have been wearing 'cheaters' for about a year now for reading only. I HATE GLASSES!! The worse thing is going into a store and not being able to read the price tags on things and having to pull out the cheaters for that only. I read an article about being able to get just one contact and wearing it all the time that you use that eye for reading, then the other eye for seeing everything distant. Does anyone here have any experience doing this?? The article did say that some peoples brains just never adjust so it doesn't work for them. I would love to try it but don't want to spend a bunch of money and find it's next to impossible to adjust. Anyone with experience doing this please let me know how it worked for you!!!!

 

[Fyrefly]

My mom is very nearsighted and when she used glasses, never looked at things up close through them so her up-close stayed good. She used to wear two contacts since it's a bit different to adjust with them, but there's apparently a time in your life where your eyes become less able to adjust as they lose flexibility.

Long story short she now wears just once contact so she can get the distance and also the close-up she's preserved and it looks fine.

As far as money, you'll probably only be out the contact fitting fee. Especially if you've never worn them before, your technician will fit you, show you how to put them in, and you'll go back over a week or two to see how they're doing. I took 2 different brands to find one that fit me well. I imagine you can bring up the one contact idea with your technician, and then in the fitting process you might try two contacts and one, depending on what ends up working best for you. It's not like glasses where you just get a pair and go and hope you like them later. So I don't see how you'd be out much more than the fitting fee if you end up hating it.

 

[Marionnette]

I have been wearing 'cheaters' for about a year now for reading only. I HATE GLASSES!! The worse thing is going into a store and not being able to read the price tags on things and having to pull out the cheaters for that only. I read an article about being able to get just one contact and wearing it all the time that you use that eye for reading, then the other eye for seeing everything distant. Does anyone here have any experience doing this?? The article did say that some peoples brains just never adjust so it doesn't work for them. I would love to try it but don't want to spend a bunch of money and find it's next to impossible to adjust. Anyone with experience doing this please let me know how it worked for you!!!!

I wear multifocal contacts but I've needed glasses since I was around 9 years old. One eye is "over corrected" for near vision and the other is "under corrected". The result is that one eye is dominant for reading and computer work. The other is dominant for reading road signs, watching TV, etc.

It takes about 2 weeks to adjust to the change but your eye doctor should be able to help you by tweeking the prescription until it works for you.
(S)he should provide you with free trial lenses while the adjustment is being made.

However, you will have to pay for a complete eye exam and the contact lens fitting fees.

 

[stickfigureartist]

I hate glasses too and have worn contacts for 40 yrs now. I now do mono vision. One stronger Rx contact is for distance and one weaker Rx is for reading. Works great for me as I am nearsighted.I can see distance and read just fine.Once you get thru the exam, try out of loaner pair,etc.and pay the fees, get your script and buy your contacts from 1800 contacts or Coastal or even Walgreens. They have good deals sometimes. Shop around. Don't let the eye Dr try to railroad you into buying from them unless they price match the online places.

 

[dumbodame]

I have been doing this for years on the suggestion of my eye doctor. It was suggested to me when I asked about Lasik surgery.

Both of my eyes have the same prescription, etc. Since I only wear one contact at a time, a pair of lenses lasts me twice as long.

 

[leahjade]

I have been doing this for years on the suggestion of my eye doctor. It was suggested to me when I asked about Lasik surgery.

Both of my eyes have the same prescription, etc

How bad are your eyes? I have a very strong prescription so I was afraid I would get headaches if I try just one lens??

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I have been doing this for two years. I had lasik years ago and my doctor warned me when I hit a "certain" age I would need readers.

My left eye is the reading eye and the right the distance eye.

My "cheaters" are a 2.0 if that helps.

Once I adjusted it works great!

 

[pk1959]

I am SO happy to hear these stories of what has worked for people! My "cheaters" are only 1.50's so my vision is not all that bad. I have never had an eye exam, so even that thought makes me nervous for some dumb reason. I don't think I would have any problem putting something in my eye, so I thought that the contacts would be perfect. I was hoping I could explain well enough to the eye doctor what I even wanted. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!!

 

[pk1959]

I hate glasses too and have worn contacts for 40 yrs now. I now do mono vision. One stronger Rx contact is for distance and one weaker Rx is for reading. Works great for me as I am nearsighted.I can see distance and read just fine.Once you get thru the exam, try out of loaner pair,etc.and pay the fees, get your script and buy your contacts from 1800 contacts or Coastal or even Walgreens. They have good deals sometimes. Shop around. Don't let the eye Dr try to railroad you into buying from them unless they price match the online places.

So I just ask for a copy of my prescription and then can go order them anywhere I chose correct?? We don't have a ton of eye doctors in the area that I live. We do have a Walmart, but I am not sure I want to start there.

 

[Plumeria9]

I started to need vision correction in my late 20s after having pretty perfect vision up until that point. I am near sighted. I also hate glasses! I have a low bridge on my nose and glasses just don't stay put. I wear contact lenses all the time, and have glasses for just in case and right before bedtime, that sort of thing. I too was trying to read small print and holding it out pretty far from myself in order to read it. So earlier this year my optometrist set me up w/ one "multifocal" lens on my non-dominate eye, and the normal lens for the other.I had no problem adjusting to it, but when the lighting is low, it is a little more difficult for the multifocal-lens eye to focus. Good luck!

 

[AnjieNet]

Mom wore one contact for years. She went in for Lasik and got only that one eye corrected. Loves it!

 

[LSchrow]

i had PRK (like lazik) so that my right eye is for seeing far, and the left is for reading. it took a few weeks to get used to.
btw, after 4 years, my left eye is getting more and more far sighted. i never thought of just one contact to bring back the nearsightedness - interesting

 

[Evi]

I use one contact but its because I a stigmatism in one eye and glasses make everything look weird to me. The one contact works great. I'm not sure of how it would work if you have vision problems in both eyes since I only actually need the correction in one eye.

 

[tweedlemom]

Mike Wazowski

 

[Mrs. Bob Loblaw]

I've been wanting to do this, but haven't looked into it yet. I am near-sighted in one eye and far-sighted in the other. -2.5 in one, +1.0 in the other. I only want to wear a contact correcting the -2.5, as I never notice difficulties with the other eye. Are there left and right contacts or can they be worn in either eye?

 

[pk1959]

OP here. I am going to go ahead and look further into it. If nothing else, I will get the eye exam out of it which is probably a good thing at my age. (Almost 52 ) My husband went last year when he was 52 and ended up paying $250 for what I call a pair of "glorified cheaters" which is just clear on the top and 1.75 magnifiers on the bottom. He doesn't think he could put anything in his eye though, so the contact wouldn't have been an option for him. In theory it sounds perfect for what I want. Thanks to all who took the time to reply.