Help with getting contact lenses in
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
My 15-year-old wants to start wearing contacts to play baseball. He’s had two lessons with the optometrist but he hasn’t been able to get the contacts in at home. He gets incredibly frustrated. Does anyone have any advice that might’ve helped your teen?’
Thanks |
Anonymous
|
Everyone has a different technique. I turn my head downward, hold my upper eyelid open with a finger and place contact. My son, tilts his head back, holds eyelid open and inserts. Basically, practice makes you faster. Has he watched any YouTubes? Do you know any adults or teens that could sit with him as he practices?
As I think back, in the beginning,I used to set myself up a place at my kitchen table with all my supplies and a small stand mirror. Good luck. |
Anonymous
|
I used to teach people to put in contact lenses. It’s hard but it just takes practice.
Make sure he has enough time to do it, and make sure it’s on the tip of his finger, and that it’s shaped like a bowl. Then he has to use his other hand (left hand usually) to hold both his his eyelids open, and place the contact on his eyeball with his right fingertip. It’s the only way it works for me. |
Anonymous
| Been there. Have him Watch a few YouTube’s on how to. Then have him hold the top eyelid open with TWO fingers. Have him blink, if it closes he is not holding it tight enough. If it stays open, he’s got it. Put one drop of solution in the contact which helps with touching the eye part. Good luck! Practice practice. |
Anonymous
| My son had same problem. For him, the very water soluble contacts that doc gave him were impossible for him. When he got more robust ie thicker contacts that I wear, he had no problem. The ones they give newbies are, I’m sure, extremely comfortable, but so floppy that it’s hard to get them transfer from finger to eye. Can you get samples of some more robust kinds to try? |
Anonymous
| Stare straight at your finger. |
Anonymous
That is how it was shown to me, couldn't do it. I look a little to the side, pop it in, look to the opposite side for it to slide into place. I also usually put a drop of saline solution in each eye first to help it stick . He needs to just keep practicing. Of course once he gets it then he has to deal with learning how to take out. |
Anonymous
|
I put it on the tip of my right index finger and put one drop off solution in the lense, hold my eye open with other hand pressing eyelashes down. Bring the contact to the eye and right before it goes into the eye, I look up. I cant do it while looking at it. The added liquid allows the lense to settle on the eye.
It might seem obvious, but the eyelash/lid has to be dry or it’s too slippery to hold open. Those eyelid muscles are strong! Lol Good luck to your son! |
Anonymous
| Back for another lesson (maybe with a different doc?), and practice practice, practice! He'll get it eventually |
Anonymous
|
I’ve worn contacts for 30 years, can do it without thinking, but have never once put it in my eye while looking at it. I look off to the side, put it on, then roll eyes and blink and it settles into place.
Some other advice: Have him compare the lens flipped both ways to recognize which is the right way- it should look like a bowl, with no flare/lip at the edges. Even now I sometimes put one in inside out- it is very uncomfortable and doesn’t stay in place well. When he is inserting it, he should make sure that the only part touching his finger is the bottom of the “bowl.” Contacts love to flop to the side so that they are sitting on their side against the finger- it is hard to get in this way. My technique- 1. Make sure contact is right side out on tip of pointer finger, with bottom of bowl the only part touching finger. I use other hand to place on finger this way. 2. Use middle finger of same hand to pull lower lid down. 3. Look sharply to side, place contact on white of eye. 4. Move eye around and carefully blink to get contact to settle into place. 5. If very uncomfortable remove and make sure not inside out or torn. Good luck! |
Anonymous
|
I think it's really important to do it with a lot of extra time. The frustration builds and then it's just harder. DD has been wearing them since October and is still not a pro, and we ask her to put them in an hour before we need to leave.
Ironically, I never had a hard time getting them in, but would struggle when I first started to get them out. She has the opposite problem. |
Anonymous
|
Everyone has given good suggestions, particularly the person who said to allow extra time (less pressure).
This will sound absurd, and probably is, but for some reason I find it way easier to get my contacts in when I am fresh out of the shower. I don’t know if it is steam in the bathroom or what. always have. |
Anonymous
This. My DS started wearing them at 13, also because of baseball (he’s a catcher). Over and over when there is no time pressure. He would get frustrated so quickly when he didn’t give himself enough time. For him, he wasn’t pulling the lower eyelid down far enough to expose the curve of the eyeball so when he thought he was putting the lens in, it wasn’t setting onto the curve of the eyeball. When he let go of the bottom lid, the lens would pop out. I stood beside several times so I could see where he was going wrong and would prompt him to pull the bottom eyelid down more. |
Anonymous
| It took me about an hour to get mine in when I first started putting them in. AN HOUR. And I had way more than two appointments at the eye doctor. Just be patient. |
Anonymous
| I have been wearing contacts for decades and I still prefer to put them in in a a quiet room because I can hear the contact suction to my eyeball. If my DH is brushing his teeth, it’s too loud. |