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From: hav@dual.UUCP (Helen Anne Vigneau)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: Information wanted on extended wear hard lenses
Message-ID: <735@dual.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 3-Aug-84 20:14:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: dual.735
Posted: Fri Aug  3 20:14:05 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Aug-84 23:50:25 EDT
References: <991@tekchips.UUCP>
Organization: Dual Systems, Berkeley, CA
Lines: 26

It would probably depend on the anomaly in your eyes.  I've had extended
wear (*SOFT*) lenses since about a year ago and am as delighted with them
as when I first got them.  They are supposed to last 6-12 months; my first
lasted 11 months.  (One lens fell out while I was in a bar.  My boyfriend and
I looked around on the floor but never found it.  We assume it disappeared
on the bottom of someone's shoe.  The other lens developed protein deposits
after ~8 months, which blurred my vision slightly but did not make it 
unwearable.)  You are supposed to take these things out and clean them every
one to two weeks, but I have gone as long as 1+ month with no adverse side
effects (I wouldn't recommend doing this *too* often though.).

Be wary of potential allergies to some of the chemicals used to clean and
store the lenses.  One of these is thimerosal which contains mercury.
I developed severe redness and itching in both eyes, but after this had
been diagnosed I found that I could do quite nicely with "homemade" saline
solution (NaCl tablets plus distilled H2O) or the non-preserved saline 
such as Bausch & Lomb's "Sensitive Eyes" formula.  

These lenses are probably somewhat more expensive than the lenses you
mentioned.  Mine cost $300.00, which included the lenses, fitting, care kit,
and all follow-up visits.  A replacement pair was $100.00.  After having
worn glasses for over half my life and *HATING* them, the extended wear
contacts were truly a worthwhile investment.  Think about it.

Helen Anne Vigneau
Dual Systems Corporation