contact lenses.
 

I just got contact lenses to replace my glasses this year. I have found that on the whole it is a wonderful upgrade from glasses and prescription sunglasses. However, I am having a problem. On days where there is any breeze, or if I am riding at a brisk pace, or if I am on a long ride (basically 99% of bike riding) they get really dried out. I typically wear a fairly good pair of sunglasses to keep the wind and sun out, but that only kind of helps.

Does anyone else have this problem? What do you do about it?

I carry rewetting drops for times like that. When I need to I stop and put some drops in. Also make sure that the night before you take them out and clean them, it makes a big difference if you wear the extended wear lenses.

It could be a fit problem. There are very few optomologists that truly understand contact lenses. I was fortunate enough to stumble on to Dr. Howard Kress. Unfortunately, the good doctor has passed on and my last visit with him was the last time I got a really good fit with my contacts. I learned recently that Dr. Kress was one of the top contact lenses fitters in the U.S. Many celebrities sought his care, going all the way to little old Mt. Lebanon, PA for his care. So if you find someone that can give you a really good fit on your contacts hold on to him or her.

Talk to your doctor and explain your problem, they just may be able to help without resorting to drops.

I gave up on trying to ride with contacts and got a set of wrap arounds with a prescription insert. Works great and keeps the bugs out.

Good sunglasses doesn't necessarily mean good wind protection for your eyes. It took me a while to find a pair (Bolle Vigilantes) that had the right balance of wind protection and not fogging on cold days. See if you can find a sunglass store/LBS/REI that has a portable fan they'll let you try glasses on in front of.

Good question, I've tired for ~15 yrs to make contacts and normal sunglasses work. Today I'm riding w/Rx sunglasses 90% of the time, when allergies (lack of) allow, I wear contacts and enjoy my std rudy project rydons, no arguement they have better visibility. Next year, Lasic!

I never have a problem with my contacts drying out while riding. Sounds like you should talk to your optomologist and find a pair that lets your eyes breath more.

Well, these are the sunglasses I use: Native dash ss
http://www.nativeyewear.com/dashss.htm

I think they do as good of a job as most would for wind protection. I might want to contact my doctor to ask him about it. I am glad to hear that at least I am not the only one who has had to think about this.

Mine dry out when I don't ride, sitting around home or driving in the car (which I just got rid of) when I ride, the oxygenation of the whole body and of the eyes cuts eye dryness/irritation way down.

The first thing you want to do is give them a good cleaning about an hour or so before your ride. Second, and here's my secret, try out a pair of sunglasses from- The Home Depot. I'm not kidding. I have two pairs that are intended to be used as protection when using power tools. The trick is that they are designed to protect the entire eye, thus they do a great job keeping all the wind out. They are also (literally) tougher than nails. The best part- they average only $10.00 a pair. Give it a try....

Drool.

I have some redeye stuff with me on rides but I never use it, I just ride around blinkning a lot and hope it doesn't get worse and if it does I toss the contacts.

Since I started to sit in front of a computer every day I stopped wearing contacts exclusively. Now I wear glassed except I put in the contacts to go to the beach to boogie board and to ride the bike. When I'm riding or in the water I forget there even in my eyes. When I ride my nose really runs (don't sneak up behind me!) and my eyes stay wet. Sorry to hear about your problem.

LASIK really is the way to go, 20/20 for life, no contacts, no prescription glasses, wear any kind of sunglasses you want. The money saved from not buying prescriptions will eventually pay for LASIK.

Al

LASIK does not stop the cause of your eyeball changing shape, therefore you will not have 20/20 for life. It will continue to degenerate at the same rate it was prior to surgery. I say this only because my optometrist told me this. I don't know enough about eyes to come that conclusion on my own, but I was under the same misimpression you have before then.

Not quite. They won't do LASIK on you (well, the good docs, at least) until your eyes have stabilized. My vision had been virtually the same for a number of years before I got my surgery (between 20/200 and 20/400; I could see the very fuzzy E at the top of the chart) and now, going on 5 years later, I'm still 20/15. And the process is even better now, with eyeball mapping and laser tracking improvements. Many optometrists who don't know much about the process won't give you good advice. I don't want to be so cynical to say it's because they don't want to lose customers, but who knows?

As for contacts drying out, mine always used to do the opposite. Whenever I had wind in my face, my eyes would water badly... sometimes to the point of obscuring my vision. Not sure how to fix either problem except laser surgery. I'm thankful everyday I got mine done. Just today, for example, I was out riding a Sea-doo in rough water. My face was taking sheets of water and I didn't have to worry about glasses or contacts for a second. If you can afford it, you should really give it serious consideration.

I wore glasses and contacts until it was time for bifocals and then I checked out lasik with monovision (one eye corrected to 20/20, the other to something like 20/70 to allow for reading w/o glasses). Now I can see 20/20 distance and no longer need reading glasses. Definately simplified my life. I'm a happy customer for sure. And it's awfully nice to be able to pick up any sunglasses I like.

I think you are confusing "changing shape" with presbyopia which is the natural loss of elasticity in the lens that comes with age. That happens to all of us. As the lens hardens it becomes difficult to impossible to focus on close objects. Many people who are near sighted are able to read without corrective lenses after their eyes have aged. LASIK puts near sighted people on a par with those born with 20/20, meaning that we will need reading glasses with age. Many doctors recommend mono-vision for contact or LASIK patients, this way the near sighted eye takes care of the close vision and the corrected eye is used for distance. After trying this with contacts I knew I didn't want mono-vision with LALIK. Mono-vision sacrifices depth perception, and I really like depth perception. After LASIK in both eyes my whole world became 3D. I didn't know people could see this well. Reading glasses are a small price to pay for 20/20 in both eyes, litterally, I never pay more than $15 for reading glasses.
My LASIK is guaranteed for life. Best money I ever spent. And after 5 years I'm even more convinced, there is no substitute for 20/20.

Al

Good info here. How much did you all pay for the LASIK?

I think some people can use contacts and some can't. I've been trying all types of contacts for years and finally gave up. I use RX lenses in Nike frames and they are awesome. I'll still use soft contacts for skiing if I need goggles.

Prices keep coming down. I think I paid $2800 per eye, the doctor has the reputation for being the best in my part of the country. I would expect you can get the same work done now for half that amount. I know that more recently my kids payed a lot less than I did. But if I had to I would pay a lot more.

Al

No I am talking about myopia, which causes near sightedness due to the shape of the eyeball changing to a more elongated shape. The continual process of this over life is called myopic creep.

Now I am just playing the Devil's Advocate here and do not claim to be an expert on this. I am tying to use common sense to try to explain the explanation that a real optometrist told me, so please take this for what it is worth.

I have seen online prescreening for LASIK and they only ask if you have changed your prescription over the past 2 years. If you have myopic creep that is slower than that, you will be fine for surgery even though the eyeball is still changing shape.

For those who have had LASIK 5 years ago and still have no problems, ask your self how many 5-year-old children you see wearing glasses. What about 40 years from now? One fact, that am sure of, is that there is no long term proof of lasting effects because LASIK has not yet been around long enough to study those effects.

If your LASIK is guarantied, then that is good for you. However, due to the discounting cost of money to reach a future value, the present value of that money is significantly lower. Additionally, the cost of the equipment used in LASIK will have already paid for itself by the time anyone may need a re-treatment. So a simple guaranty is not proof of the lasting effects, but a good risk backed investment on the part of the LASIK doctors. Simply put, the combined patient’s cost of LASIK now will provide them enough with enough profit to cover the future cost of all possible re-treatments. (Just my speculation without seeing actual numbers)

Having said all of this, I am still seriously considering having LASIK done myself.

Fair enough. I've never heard of myopic creep but don't doubt what you've said. LASIK is considered to be a permanent fix, but you are correct that it hasn't been around a full lifetime.
For what it's worth, I'm sure I'll never be sorry I had LASIK and strongly recommend it for anyone who qualifies and enjoys being outdoors. Just looking out a window at a landscape makes it all worth it.

Al