I’m leaving out all the stuff going back to 1508 when Leonardo da Vinci had some kind of idea that might possibly have led to someone else having an idea that might have led to contact lenses. It’s like you can never get the jump on Leonardo. Whatever you might think of, he thought of it first, sort of. And whatever Leonardo didn’t think of, Nostradamus did.
Our story will begin in 1971, when the first “soft” contact lenses were approved for use in the U.S.
Like most women, I’m willing to put up with a certain amount of pain for the sake of vanity. See: High heels. Also see: Sunburn, in the pursuit of getting a tan. But even I drew the line at sticking a piece of glass in my eye. Okay, technically, since 1949, they were made of Plexiglas but who’s quibbling?
When “soft” contact lenses came out, it was not really an issue for me, because I had discovered that I could do without my glasses most of the time. I’d been wearing glasses since I was two years old, but some time in my teens I discovered that I could do this funny thing with my eyes that I can’t even describe now; basically it involved forcing them to focus. I would only have to wear my glasses when my eyes got too tired to do that. Then oddly enough as years passed, it got easier to do rather than harder.
There’s an explanation for that. I was farsighted, and as we age, we become more nearsighted. So I eventually evolved into “normal” and that lasted for many, many years. Therefore, when soft contacts first came out, I had no need for them. Plus, they were expensive.
I can’t really remember when I finally took the plunge, but I think it was maybe 1980. These contacts were called “Daily Wear” and while they may not have hurt your eye, they were a pain in the ass. You had to take them out every night, put a drop of this oily cleaning solution on them, and rub each contact between your thumb and forefinger for about 20 seconds. Then you stored them in a case filled with saline. Then you put them back in in the morning. Once a week you would have to disinfect them with enzymatic cleaner which, as I recall, took 24 hours. The enzymatic cleaner consisted of a fizzy little tablet, like a mini-Alka Seltzer, which you dropped in separate bottles of saline. After they dissolved you put in the contact lenses. One of the great inventions of all time is Multipurpose Solution. No more rubbing, no more enzymatic cleaner. Take them out, put them in the case with the solution, and it does it all.
Then in 1981, they came out with so-called “Extended Wear” lenses. Translation: contacts you can sleep in. I was in the optometrist’s office fifteen seconds after I heard about them. I rank that invention up there with the airplane, Penicillin, and the Internet. No more using the Braille method to try to find your glasses in the morning. Sure, as a glasses-wearer, you try to put them in the same place every night, but in my case, something always goes wrong with that. For instance, in the middle of the night, the cat will get bored and decide that those shiny gold frames look like they would be fun to bat. I’ll find the glasses in the floor, six feet away, ideally before I step on them.
There are many reasons besides vanity to wear contact lenses, but being able to see as soon as you open your eyes in the morning is at the top of my list.
Extended Wear lenses were approved to wear for about a week, when you were supposed to throw them away. Now they have “Continuous Wear” lenses you can wear for 30 days. The lenses I currently wear are officially “Daily Wear” which last for 30 days if you take them out. Not gonna happen. My optometrist once said, Hmmm. Are you sleeping in these lenses? I guess the blank look on my face answered the question. (I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t want to answer either.) She said, sigh, well, officially these are “not approved” for that. So if you’re going to sleep in them, at least don’t wear them for more than two weeks, rather than a month. Also, not gonna happen.
The reason contact lenses “evolved” is that technology created greater and greater oxygen permeability. (Your cornea has to have oxygen.) The lenses I’m wearing have one of the highest levels of permeability available. They are silicone hydrogel lenses, and this brand is 62% water. There is absolutely no reason I can’t sleep in them, except for the fact that the manufacturer would like me to buy more, more often. In my opinion.
The reason I chose this topic is, that for the last seven (!) months, I haven’t been able to wear contact lenses at all. Last October, when I went to have my contact lens prescription renewed, they found I was bleeding in the retina of my right eye. I had to be treated for that, and was pronounced cured at the end of March, but the opthamologist asked me to wait another two months to go back to the optometrist. I did. And last week, my contact lenses came in.
It had been so long that I was afraid I’d lost my touch when it came to putting them in. Also that they would feel weird. And indeed they did. It took about 24 hours to readjust. For one thing, the contacts are “monovision”, another really cool advance. Monovision is kind of like wearing bifocals in glasses, except that one eye is “fitted” for near vision, and one eye for far vision. Depending on the distance from the object you’re viewing, your brain seamlessly switches from one eye to the other. You never even know it’s happening. Which is way easier than bifocals. But my brain had to retrain itself this week.
Other than that, it’s just like they say: it’s like riding a bicycle. You never forget. Apparently, neither does your brain.
