Contact Lenses?

MilwShooter

MilwShooter

Pool? Never heard of it..
Silver Member
I've been playing pool for a while and finally had the revelation (as obvious as it is) that the shots I miss are the shots that require me to look over the top of my glasses.

My question to all of you is this: Will contacts make enough of a difference in sighting down the table to make up for the $200 price tag? (exam, fitting, lenses) A bonus question would be: Do any of you have an astigmatism and wear contacts, if so, do they slide around a lot on the eye?
 
I wear them...

MilwShooter said:
I've been playing pool for a while and finally had the revelation (as obvious as it is) that the shots I miss are the shots that require me to look over the top of my glasses.

My question to all of you is this: Will contacts make enough of a difference in sighting down the table to make up for the $200 price tag? (exam, fitting, lenses) A bonus question would be: Do any of you have an astigmatism and wear contacts, if so, do they slide around a lot on the eye?
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Get accueview I have them and have no problem with them. It took awhile to get used to them, but now I am fine. Still can't shoot, but I can see to miss better...
Edit: Not accueview. Bausch & Lomb Soflens (polymacon) Multifocal

Dwight
 
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Kidding... You can see the balls clearly when you look through your lenses, now imagine the lenses right on your eyes and nothing to keep you from seeing all the shots. I have 2.00- in my left eye and 2.25+ in my right eye. I can see about 12 feet clearly and still see the score sheet for league. I had the doc make them like this, so I could shoot pool. Just tell him what you want them for and they will make them how you want them.
 
MilwShooter said:
You bring up a good point. If I get contacts and still miss those shots...I'll have to admit to sucking. :-)
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The first step is admitting your problem....:D
 
Two HUGE hurdles when I shoot, and that's exclusively with contact lenses.

1. When staring, maintaining focus on a fixed point, my eyes dry and immediately blur and fog my vision. Cleansing eyedrops and hard blinking are just an accepted part of my routine. This may be an isolated case, but I have heard from other contact lense wearers that this is not unique.

2. I have astigmatism in both eyes, so I have to wear toric lenses. Every blink resets my vision, because toric lenses are weighted so that they position themselves a proper way everytime I open my eyes. This on any particular day can be VERY apparent.

...now would I trade this for glasses? hell no. Maybe custom fitted ones, but that is costly and my perscription is coke bottle status.

When I can, I will have lasik.
 
Impact Blue said:
Two HUGE hurdles when I shoot, and that's exclusively with contact lenses.

1. When staring, maintaining focus on a fixed point, my eyes dry and immediately blur and fog my vision. Cleansing eyedrops and hard blinking are just an accepted part of my routine. This may be an isolated case, but I have heard from other contact lense wearers that this is not unique.

2. I have astigmatism in both eyes, so I have to wear toric lenses. Every blink resets my vision, because toric lenses are weighted so that they position themselves a proper way everytime I open my eyes. This on any particular day can be VERY apparent.

...now would I trade this for glasses? hell no. Maybe custom fitted ones, but that is costly and my perscription is coke bottle status.

When I can, I will have lasik.
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Have you tried the soft lenses? I misspoke earlier, It is Bausch & Lomb Soflens (polymacon) Multi-focal. They are bifocal as in I can read and shoot with them.
 
BigDogatLarge said:
Have you tried the soft lenses? I misspoke earlier, It is Bausch & Lomb Soflens (polymacon) Multi-focal. They are bifocal as in I can read and shoot with them.
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Currently, I wear Bausch & Lomb PureVision Toric soft lenses. I suggest these, over the dozens of brands I've tried for extended wear. They can be worn for 30 consecutive, slept in days--although, I would strongly suggest they be cleaned at least every couple of days. And even to give your eyes a rest for a night or two a week.

Advice has varied from optometrists, but these have worked the best for me and is worn by my doc as well. But by the 30th day...they are pretty much done. All the same they are very durable, and do not tear easily.

I should work in sales....
 
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I have an astigmatism in both eyes, fairly severe, I have tried contacts several times over the years but have never had success.

I am about ready to try again with the new Acuview Advance for astigmatism lenses, they are supposedly very good and stay moisturized nearly all the time avoiding the dry eye syndrome plus they are disposable.

Hope they work as well as they claim.
 
i wear contacts....accuview ones that i have to change every two weeks.
only trouble you have is if you've been wearing them all day you're eyes can feel pretty heavy and dry.
if you work in the day its probably best to wear glasses then pop your contacts in before you play.
the smoking ban has obviously helped a lot with cleaner air in pool halls....though it can help to pop out for some fresh air every couple of hours
 
Contacts

I doubt that anyone has had more eye problems than I have had. I wore hard contacts since I was 18, except for 3 years after they warped and took layers of my corneas off, leaving me with scarred corneas.

I have 20/1000 vision with astigmatism front and back of eyes with scarred corneas. A year ago December, I went through a process to convert to soft lenses (9 appointments in total). My eyes self adjusted over time, and now I have 20/25 vision where I spent most of my life with 20/40 vision.

I wear the 1 month Bausch and Lomb purevision toric lenses. You buy a six pack ($108) and they last 6 months. They correct astigmatism, and are shaped to sit on your eye properly and consistently. They are indeed worth it. Contacts are so much better than glasses for shooting Pool, I have done both.

A new pair of glasses with new frames will run you $600-$800 today.
 
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I wear contacts and have been wearing them for 4+ years now, and the only time I have issues are when I've been up for a long time, say 20+ hours. My eyes get pretty tired and I can't focus that much on anything. I wear daily disposables though, so that is probably the cause of that. I would never want to go back to glasses though, ever.
 
I started using the Acuvue Advance lenses a couple of years ago, when I finally decided to bite the bullet and try contacts. I was always incredibly squeamish about the whole "touching my own eyeball" thing, but got over that in a week... I kick myself for putting it off so long :D

I tend to wear contacts specifically for pool, so I put them in just before I'm playing, and take them out not long after I'm done. So I don't worry about wearing them for super-long periods of time.

Everyone's eyes are different... go see your eye doc and tell him/her that you want to explore getting contacts for playing pool. You probably won't be the first person that has come to them with that goal in mind.

As far as glasses being $600-800 - many eye doctors have an attached frame shop, and will give you a good discount on a new pair when you come in for an exam. I know the last pair I bought cost me somewhere around $100, maybe $150. The price does largely depend on all the extra stuff you can get on your lenses, and who makes the frames and how overpriced they are. :D
 
Definitely ditch the glasses...

My eyes are roughly 20/350 in both. I just had cataract surgery in my left eye last year and couldn't wear contacts for three months. My glasses are progressives and are very good but terrible for pool. Just impossible to find a comfortable position to line up a shot and be able to focus through the correct area of the lens. They would have been about $600 at an optometrist but I got them at Costco for $270. Not as fashionable, but that doesn't really matter to a fat old man!:grin:

After months of trial and error, I settled on Acuvue Oasys contacts. They are the most comfortable for me and stay moist the longest. Rarely need drops even when playing in a smoky pool hall for hours. They're about $4 a lens at Costco (about $7 per lens at an optometrist).

I still have a cataract in my right eye that's not quite bad enough for insurance to cover the operation. As soon as I can, I'll get that taken care of and get Lasik.

Good luck.

MM
 
dump the frames and don't look back!!

Everybody is different, as stated before. "Tear chemistry" is a biggie. If your eyes naturally produce moisture, you cleared a big hurdle. Natural moisture production keeps your eyes and lenses cleansed/clear, you feeling comfortable, and keeps you from constantly blinking and adding eye drops. By far, most people have good tear production. I have middle of the road tear production, but even so rarely have to use drops when playing pool, golf, long drives, pollen season, or otherwise. But I ALWAYS remove my contacts prior to sleep. Why"

It 1) gives my eyes a rest and allows them to "breathe"
2) keeps infection like corneal ulcers away
3) makes my "2 week, sleep in them Accuview" contacts last for 2 to 3 months a pair.

I go the the eye doctor @ every 18-24 months, depending on how long my 9 pair last.

My annual cost for lenses and dr visit = @ $100 max. (my Accuview Advance cost @ $20/box of 3 pair each)

Been wearing them for 20 years and assuming your eyes don't have major "contact rejection issues" YOU WILL MAKE ONE OF THE BEST PERSONAL DECISONS EVER BY DUMPING THE FRAMES! :cool:
 
Good points by kk9l...

KoolKat9Lives said:
Everybody is different, as stated before. "Tear chemistry" is a biggie. If your eyes naturally produce moisture, you cleared a big hurdle. Natural moisture production keeps your eyes and lenses cleansed/clear, you feeling comfortable, and keeps you from constantly blinking and adding eye drops. By far, most people have good tear production. I have middle of the road tear production, but even so rarely have to use drops when playing pool, golf, long drives, pollen season, or otherwise. But I ALWAYS remove my contacts prior to sleep. Why"

It 1) gives my eyes a rest and allows them to "breathe"
2) keeps infection like corneal ulcers away
3) makes my "2 week, sleep in them Accuview" contacts last for 2 to 3 months a pair.

I go the the eye doctor @ every 18-24 months, depending on how long my 9 pair last.

My annual cost for lenses and dr visit = @ $100 max. (my Accuview Advance cost @ $20/box of 3 pair each)

Been wearing them for 20 years and assuming your eyes don't have major "contact rejection issues" YOU WILL MAKE ONE OF THE BEST PERSONAL DECISONS EVER BY DUMPING THE FRAMES! :cool:
Click to expand...

...especially the part about taking them out every night. I've had the corneal ulcers so I try to NEVER sleep in them again! I change my Acuvue's about once a month.

MM
 
I have a verticle astigmatism in my left eye and a diagonal astigmatism in my right eye..... and I need a prism on my right eye lense to pull my right eye in line with my left eye.

I could never get torics that would work in both eyes.

For a while I useed a toric in my left eye (dominant) and a regular contact in my right eye.

The problems for me is I needa bifocal so if I wear contacts I also need reading glasses so I can actually read anything in front of my face.

The added problem for me is that the astigmatism is not in the cornea, the astigmatism is in the lens of my eye. (which is always moving re-focusing)...and also means I am not a candidate for laser correction.

The other thing that happens is that the first time I wear the contacts they are ok..but after that, the two week or 1 month etc never feel right.

I landed on disposable contacts that I only wear when I play pool...wear once and throw it away...They do not correct for astigmatism, they only correct for the vision clarity...I have 20/20 vision with my contacts in but I still get phantom edges from the astigmatism.....(even with the toric lenses I would still get the phantom edges)

and with the torics...they ended up being worse than just wearing no lenses at all...If the toric shifts at all, it would blurr my vision real bad...the ball would go from round to oval as I would get down on my shot.

I did get lucky in that the non astigmatism corrective lenses I use are the same for both eyes...I just deal with the astigmatism and hope it does not get worse.

I do have glasses that correct everything, but as soon as I get down on the shot my eyes are looking over the top of the lense and the glasses become usless or actually a hinderence.

I suspect for you it will be like everyone els...trial and error until you find the right lenses..(if you can find them at all)
 
Long sessions and weekend long tournaments take a toll on my contacts. I always take a new pair out for all weekend tournaments, then it's a non issue. I don't sleep in them, and I wear my glasses when I won't be playing pool, golfing, ect. That last part has made a huge difference for me, my eyes don't dry out nearly as bad since I've stopped wearing my contacts every day.
 
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