Contact Lens Shopping -- Huge Scam?

[clovisc]

i just wanted to vent a bit, and see if anyone on here agrees with me about contact lens "regulations" in the US being ridiculous, possibly corrupt...

here's how it works -- in the US, contact lenses are "regulated." no matter how old you are, how long its been since your vision has changed, you need to have a doctor's perscription -- less than one year old -- to be able to order contacts. even online. (1-800-contacts won't cut corners!!!!)

the justification given is that your eyesight might change without you realizing it (huh??? really?????!), and the wrong perscription might harm your eyes.

we're also told that disposeable contacts must be disposed of after 1 month, two weeks, whatever it is... and that failure to do so will result in eye infections, styes, and all other manner of nasty, intimidating afflictions.

as someone without an eyecare plan or buckets of money, paying a doctor $150 per year for a "check up" (which is the cost on my island... where we have one optometrist), then $300 for a year's "supply" of contacts means a pretty significant sacrifice. heck, the total cost is more than i paid for my current car!

instead, i've been using the same boxes of contacts... purchased like 3-4 years ago... for the last 3-4 years. these are bi-weekly disposeables, which i wear daily until i tear or lose them (at times, has been upwards of 6 months per lens!). i clean them carefully each night, and i don't really notice a difference in quality or performance... even compared to "yearly" contact lenses. they seem every bit as good as any contact lenses, and more-or-less equally durable... only difference is, you're supposed to buy a massive quantity of them, instead of just a couple.

am i out of my mind? am i destroying my eyes by "cutting corners" ? i really don't think so...

i mean, if i had any sort of issue with my eyes, or if i wasn't able to see right, or if i even suspected my vision was on the decline, even slightly... i'd go see an optometrist in a second... but i don't have any issues. and it just seems wrong for me to pay so much money to comply with an "up-to-date perscription" rule that doesn't seem to protect me.

two nights ago, after lots of long, hard searching online, i finally located a non-US vendor (with a US warehouse :) ) that would sell me contacts without requiring a "current" doctor's perscription, or verification. instead of spending upwards of $300 for an eye exam and a year's "supply" of lenses, i bought a single box of six bi-weeklies for $25, including shipping. just got word it shipped out... and received a tracking number. :D

something seems wrong here. i've never gotten an eye infection, my eyesight is as good as it ever was, and my "disposeable" contacts last 12x times as long as they're alleged to (they don't "wear out" -- i lose or break them). why are consumers told all these stories, and why are contacts treated as "regulated substances???"

the way i see it, laws are designed to protect the public. who is the contact lens law protecting, really?

[markg]

Yea, eye doctors make a killing off contacts. And who are the "professionals" who are going to make the rules?

I got tired of the hassle and have simply stuck with my glasses.

[yablanowitz]

You can't buy new glasses without a current prescription any more, either. I used the same prescription for over twenty years on my glasses, having them made off the old pair. Then one day, they said they couldn't do that anymore. So now I have to go back to the doctor every time my glasses get too scratched up to see through.

Be glad you don't have astigmatism like I do. Soft lenses for my eyes run almost $500 a pair.

[kimjune01]

I know for sure that those saline solutions are a ripoff
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/718251/worlds_biggest_ripoff_exposed/

[aj1985]

Just admit it you use the same contacts so you can buy more Spydies :D. I do the same thing with underwear, but mine last longer than your contacts :p So more Spydies for me

I will be sending you a pm shortly

aj

[a deadly fart]

Clovisc:
I work for an optometry office. Regular exam $130, Cl wearer tack on extra $60, new cl wearer / or first time doctor seeing you with cl tack on $85 and up to the exam. Price wise I feel you for the exams but there are enough of the trouble makers who go through 6 different lense trials before they get the one they like. As for the expiration of contact lense Rx i can understand to degrees. Then again I see enough office visits due to over wearing of contacts or dirty handling of contacts to make me cringe, average two to three a week. Price of contact lenses at my store as I look at the invoices are little in profit. We make more money from glasses then exams then contact lenses. As for you wearing your contacts for longer then recomended : the boxes of contacts that we receive from vendors don't expire for usually three to five years. As for the cleanliness of the lenses, that depends on each person's eyes. We have patients that go through two week lenses as if they were bi-daily lenses, it just depends on how much protein and other stuff your eye secretes and stays on the lense.

yablanowitz:

I too have high astigmatism. about a -4.00 cyl on the right eye, the only lenses the doctor gave me that work well were the preference torics that are quarterly lenses. Silliness of it was that the vendor said a pack of 4 was $140 whereas a single lense was $90 so that left me scratching my head. As for a year supply of those lenses, eight lenses, are retail $370 at our store so shop around.

[carrot]

I don't remember what I paid at the eye doc for a prescription. But what I do know is BJ's Wholesale sold me 90 lenses at $40 a box (90 for each eye, so $80 for both) of Dailies, which I've been wearing for quite a few more days than... a single day.

[jaislandboy]

yup, most laws/regulations in general help to "butter the bread" of certain individuals (who have a vested interest in keeping things that way) .... at least this is my general understanding of "politics" :rolleyes:

[clovisc]

Clovisc:
I work for an optometry office. Regular exam $130, Cl wearer tack on extra $60, new cl wearer / or first time doctor seeing you with cl tack on $85 and up to the exam. Price wise I feel you for the exams but there are enough of the trouble makers who go through 6 different lense trials before they get the one they like. As for the expiration of contact lense Rx i can understand to degrees. Then again I see enough office visits due to over wearing of contacts or dirty handling of contacts to make me cringe, average two to three a week. Price of contact lenses at my store as I look at the invoices are little in profit. We make more money from glasses then exams then contact lenses. As for you wearing your contacts for longer then recomended : the boxes of contacts that we receive from vendors don't expire for usually three to five years. As for the cleanliness of the lenses, that depends on each person's eyes. We have patients that go through two week lenses as if they were bi-daily lenses, it just depends on how much protein and other stuff your eye secretes and stays on the lense.
.

this is the kind of response i was hoping for... something from within the optometry "industry."

interesting perspective, to say the least.

i've never had any eye problems, so i guess 1) keep it clean, and you shouldn't have any issues... 2) wearing bi-weeklies until kingdom come isn't going to do some people any wrong... myself included... 3) guess i gotta do future ordering from canada... :rolleyes:

$20 for a year, or $300+? that's a pretty significant difference... !

[WOTANSON1]

As a man who has worn the same pair of glasses for three years running now because I don't have vision coverage I understand what you're going through. However as a man with glaucoma I can't tell you how much I'm glad my wife forced me to have yearly eye exams because early detection and treatment is vital. Just the thought of not being able to see my beautiful wife and son is too much to bear. So get regular eye exams, ya never know what they'll find.;)

Cheers,
Rob

[Chucula]

As Rob points out, I think yearly exams are good for detecting eye disease (same as getting a physical once or twice a year). However, I agree that a prescription should not be needed for contact lenses. If you can buy reading glasses in a store, I don't see why you can't also buy (weak) contact lenses. Both can cause damage the same way, so just put a warning on the box and let people decide for themselves.

I have been wearing contact lenses for at least 5 years now. I would prefer to be able to buy lenses in the store when I need them--it would be especially useful for traveling.

[zenheretic]

Building on what deadly fart said, everyone is different. As you may know, aging makes the same person different over time. As you age, the eyes often produce less lubrication. Such eyes will quickly tear up the lenses of today. Not to mention the protein buildup that he discussed. Although you can't really see them, the proteins buildup and cause micro scratches on the eye balls, which set you up for eye infections.

Being young and careful daily cleaning may help you stretch out your lens dollars, but if you ever notice an eye irritation please get it checked. You only get two eyes, and our whole world is centered around our eyes.

I also worry about your lens dealer who is willing to work around the regulations. I understand you gotta do what ya gotta do on a limited budget,but should you get sold some sort of illegitimate products, you will likely have little recourse.

[yablanowitz]

yablanowitz:

I too have high astigmatism. about a -4.00 cyl on the right eye, the only lenses the doctor gave me that work well were the preference torics that are quarterly lenses. Silliness of it was that the vendor said a pack of 4 was $140 whereas a single lense was $90 so that left me scratching my head. As for a year supply of those lenses, eight lenses, are retail $370 at our store so shop around.

I'm not real up on all the terminology, but the last doctor I spoke with about contacts explained that the problem is the cylindric on my right (dominant) eye is at 45 degrees from vertical. At that time, there was only one company in the world that made a lense that could correct that, and that one lense sold for $345 a copy. Since I was already needing bi-focals at the time, I just shrugged and went on. I've been wearing glasses for so long that when I did try contacts years ago, I was wearing sunglasses or safety glasses all the time anyway.;)

[raven]

I have what's called "Keratoconus" ...it means my cornea is "cone shaped". The only way to correct my vision is to use "HARD LENSES":eek: :( !!! The doc my vision to 20/10, but any little bit of debris that gets in my lenses, well it's like having a "Boulder" in your eye. It would be a lot less painful to pull my eyeballs out and stomp on them instead of dealing with the pain of hard lenses.

These lenses are much smaller than soft lenses and such a pain to maintenance. I can't wear glasses, because the light doesn't bend around my cornea correctly to allow me to focus, so "Hard Lenses" it is :o .

Talk about cost, everytime I need to get a pair of lose one .....$150 to $200 a pop!!! They're made and shaped specifically to the shape of my cornea. Talk about a headache!!! Rant Over :p . Take Good Care All and Be Safe Always.

God Bless :)


-raven-

[CombatGrappler]

Thank god my employer has good vision insurance. It is a little under 20 bucks a month for the four of us. Our exams are just a $15 co-pay, and we get a huge frame allowance. Year's supply of contacts every year, or new glasses every two years. Heck, just getting everyone in my family a new pair of glasses would have wrecked my budget, but with the insurance I actually saved so much that it will cover my premiums for the next two years easily.

I don't have an astigmatism, but both of my eyes are -9.0. My glasses are stronger at -10.0. My son will just come up and stare at the thickness of my glasses until I run him off, LOL. Needless to say, I generally wear my contacts in public.