Any experience of contact lenses in the desert. Does the heat dry them out and the dust iritate the eyes too much ?

Any advice welocome.

Dave

Havent been to desert proper, but in Morocco a grain of sand did cause an eye infection. Probably got stuck behind the lens. Been thinking about glasses such for travels.

Good journey!

I’ve used one-day contact lenses for 6-7 months in the desert without problems. If it’s windy in the morning they dry out when you put them on but usually you can find shelter from the wind behind your bike or something.

But I have also met people that have problems like Lupo so it might be smart to bring some glasses.

Hi Dave,
I am wearing ACUVUE contactlenses now since 14 years without any problems. When we are travelling (Alaska - Tierra del Fuego for 18 months)I wear them one week and then throw them away.
I am driving motorcycle but had never problems with air, sand or dust!!!!

------------------
Best wishes
:-)
RalEva

http://www.Motorradnomaden.de

The homepage has a translation service!!

__________________
Best wishes
:-)
Ralf & Eva

http://www.Motorradnomaden.de
around the world on 2 motorbikes

The homepage has a translation service!!

Since you will almost certainly be wearing sun glasses too, my advice is to wear prescription sun glasses in the desert.

Carry some disposable lenses too for when wearing glasses is inconvenient. I.e. doing other sports.

Stephano

[This message has been edited by Stephano (edited 11 May 2004).]

Hi,

maybe it sounds a bit like a high tech solution, but why not get a laser treatment and get rid of lenses, glasses, ...
When we travelled to Irian Jaya some years ago, my girlfriend worried about exactly the same issue. After informing ourselves, she had her eyes 'lasered' (they more or less burn the shape of the lens on your eye, permanent solution). We thought it would be very expensive but in the end it costed about 1000 euro for the two eyes together. Still quit a lot of money but untill now her sight is perfect (damn, she even noticed i'm getting bold) and no need anymore for lenses, cleaning fluid,...
In the long run, i think it may even turn out to be the cheapest solution.
Greetings,

Koen

I've been keeping an eye on this thread for a while (pun intended) as I've only been wearing contact lenses for a short time and was interested, with a North Africa trip coming up, to see (as above) how people got on with them in dusty dry conditions.

Prior to my binning the specs I made enquiries regarding laser treatment and found that this procedure carried certain risks. The main one for me was that the treatment permanently damages the rods in your eyes that enable night vision. The degree to which occurs is different in each individual case. Apparently the effect is to make light sources such as headlamps appear like stars. In the course of making enquiries I conacted my own occupational health officer who advised me that If I had the surgery I would not be allowed to drive or carry a firearm at work during the hours of darkness such was there concern.

__________________
\"Bon Chance\"

Hi there,

i'm not completely sure if we talk about the same kind of treatment. At the time that my girlfriend had the laser treatment (about 4 to 5 years ago i think) there was quite a lot of discussion and rumors about these treatments. In the end, it turned out that there were several ways of working. If i'm correct, then the night vision problems had more to do with the treatment where they make some kind of scratches on your eyes. In any case, my girlfriend is perfectly able to see and drive at night...
The kind of treatment that she had consisted of cutting a small circle out of the upper layer of the eye (don't know the english word for it), flipping this open, burning with the laser underneath and closing the upper layer again. Everything healed in a couple of days.
On the other hand it's all been a couple of years ago and i'm not an expert, so my mail was only intended to bring up the option. These techniques advanced fast, so i don't know the current situation of what is possible. Back at that time the limits were that it was not possible to correct very big deviations on the eye, and that the treatment was not possible if you had a lot of vains running through the part of the eye that is treated.
In my girlfriends case, it has been great, that's why i brought up the idea...
Greetings,

Koen

I wore gas permeable contact lenses in Morocco for 4 weeks with no problem except for about an hour in a dust storm. Even then a pair of wrap around sunglasses kept the grit out. I've had more problems in a smoky uk pub than I did in the desert. I used a water free hand wash before removing or putting in the lenses.

Hi Koen, I'm glad your girlfriends treatment worked out well for her. She may well have had a different procedure from the one I had been contemplating. I have a two main problems with my eyesight, an acute astigmatism in one eye and I'm also long sighted in both eyes. I'll stick with the contact lenses for now and see what developes in the future. I use daily desposables at the moment but, I may well try a day and night type which you, apparently, only have to change once a month and stay in place for all that time. My main concern was having to put them in and take them out in very dry, dusty conditions. Bob.

[This message has been edited by mcdarbyfeast (edited 14 May 2004).]

__________________
\"Bon Chance\"

Order Online at affordable and lowest price on contact lenses. Find more tips on buying contact lenses online. Caring tips for contact lenses and wearing tips for contact lenses. Buy cheap contact lenses at best discount price upto 70% off on all types of contact lenses at Contact Lenses Express - Cheap Online Contact Lenses Store for Monthly & Daily Disposable Coloured Toric Contact Lenses.