Hi all,
Simple as this. I know I need them. I wear glasses, and have prescription Oakleys for riding. They still mist, but clear quicker than normal glasses. I play a lot of football, and struggle. Been once before to try for them and couldn't bring myself to take them in and out myself.
Someone tell me to MTFU or such like, or your wonderful stories of how you overcame the same fear.
Cheers
Col
MTFU
Seriously, most contact lenses are fine once they're in, however if you have a significant astygmatism(sp) they may not feel quite right.
With regards to getting stuck - very unlikely, never happened to me. Worst thing is getting dirt or eyelashes in your eye is temporarily painful.
mmm... not sure there's a trick to it as such. Some people can manage - and it does get easier over time - others never overcome it. I had a mate who tried contact lenses 3 times, fainted each time they were put in.
As you said, I think a big dose of MTFU is required... Can you put drops in your eyes (in general)? Just think of it as a drop, except with your finger involved.
Poke yourself in the eye. If you can do that, you're sorted 
I think what we have here is just a simple, good old fashioned, honest to goodness, clear cut case of MTFU.
So, all in favour of MTFU?
Thread closed.
No way would I stick something in my eye on purpose. Not a chance.
Thankfully I've got rad 20:20 vision. 
Once you are wearing them it's such a fantastic experience (especially if you have extended wear ones - put them in, take them out a month later and replace) that you won't care.
Glasses are a real drag for a sportsperson. So MTFU.
It's like putting mascara on, you can touch the white bit of your eye as much as you like, it's got no nerves on it, it's just the coloured bit you need to avoid.
I have a thing about things being near my eyes but overcame the fear pretty well and got used to them quite quickly. The thing I DIDN'T enjoy was when the optician popped the test ones in my eyes at the very first fitting - I could barely make my eyes stay open. YACK!
I can't be bothered with them nowadays though.
Molgrips - what monthly ones do you use and how much do they cost? I could be tempted by monthlies...
Definitely MTFU.
I'd start with daily disposables, especially if you only need them for sport and going out. Disposables tend to be slightly softer and you won't be much out of pocket if you don't get on with them.
Put them in when you are in front of a mirror. Concentrating on your reflection will help you rationalise what is going on and stop your eye twitching all over the place.
BTW I developed a way of holding my eyes open with my middle and forefinger of one hand whilst putting them in with the other hand (I do still always have the compulsion to close my eyes as soon as anything goes near them).
Bausch and Lomb Purevision. Available in toric form. Extended wear are the next best thing to surgery, costs me something like £20/month from specsavers, and I don't need solutions.
(Some folk can't wear them all month, but even so they are much better than normal ones cos they never dry out.)
Thankfully I've got rad 20:20 vision.
If you'd had to put up with glasses on a wet bike ride you'd think differently about putting things in your eyes.
MTFU - talking from experience.
When I started with monthly contacts, it used to take me 15-30 mins to get them in. After a little while it was down to a couple of seconds. You get used to putting your finger in your eye eventually.
MTFU - you get used to it .. but being a bit more helpful ..
I started on dailies .. now on monthly Torics work great.
I remember the optician insisted on trying to put them in form me first time round .. I told him not to bother after a few goes, I just didn't have the trust in the amount of force he was using
Start by washing you hands well, and just pull the bottom (lid/bags?) of your eye down, staring ahead and getting used to touching the edge of the white part .. get used to that.
1st day took 20 minutes, 2nd day 5 minutes, next day 45 seconds, now they're both in in about 20 seconds.
People tell you to just put them on the edge of your eye and 'blink' them into place. After 10 years this still doesn't work for me. They usually just fold.
I pull the bottom of my eye down, rinse and wet the lense well with solution, then put the lense on underneath the iris, mainly over the white. Then I grabe my eyelid by the lashes, and lift it out, down and over the lense, then 'blink' while closed (if that makes sense) this gets the lense into place.
If it's sticky/irritating then give it a few minutes if you can while your eyes build up a bit of mucus, then just move the lense left/right/up/down a mm or so or look up, blink, down, blink, left, blink, right, blink. If it's still sticky maybe it's inside out, or put a bit more solution on it just to rinse off any specs (no pun intended) of dirt
In short your eyes have to get used to it over time, get used to creating mucus. I'm at the stage now where I don't feel awake till my eyeslenses are in.
EDIT . they get uncomfortable when you're tired, dehydrated near the end of the day. your resistance to this builds up.
It's not a natural thing to do but as said ^^ you get used to it very quickly and stop thinking about it.
I've tried allsorts including extended wear and have found Daysoft daily disposables to be the most comfortable and suit me best. Very cheap too @ £10 a month delivered to your door.
I'd tell you to MTFU but I failed the contact lens test.
the optician wanted to touch my eye, failed once, failed twice, and on the third attempt, I sort of accidentally decked him.
Now it's Adidas Evil Eyes for me
Don't be such a big girls blouse and wack'em in 
( contact wearer for 20 years btw)
You are ghey..... just stick them in. It may seem a bit scarey the first time but you very soon get used to it so, yes, MTFU.
If you want to know what scarey really is, try lying back with your eyes held open while a computer burns bits of your eye away with a laser 
I remember the stress and aggro when I first got contact lenses 20-something years ago. They were the old rigid gas permeable jobs. Putting them in was easy enough - getting them out required a special technique of squeezing the eyelids together to lift the lens off the eye - bloody impossible when drunk. Oh, and they'd scratch like fury if I got anything in my eye. So tough, you could keep them loose in the sock drawer..!
Modern soft ones are a POP in comparison. MTFU.
EDIT: one of the many advantages for me is the annual contact lens check up where my MILF optician leans towards me takes them out. So to speak.
Ditto! ^^^^^^
Worth every penny!
MTFU - no problems with modern soft lenses. I have daily disposables, got them off the internet, as said astygmatism may not be corrected at the price point you want to enter at but still do alright. I hardly use them though, 3D films. Rather wear specs.
Had one roll back behind the eyeball when trying to remove, irritating but not the end of the world, managed to get to sleep and by the morning it had worked it's way around to the front.
OILF?
Boots biweekly lenses, now correct stigs too!, but about £30 a month. Worth every penny.
Only issue will be what to do with the Oakleys
I had a horrible time when I first tried contacts... Just couldn't do it, it wasn't pleasant to start with then once the frustration kicked in I just wanted to punch the optician and burn the shop down.
But once i'd done that, i found the frustration went away and it became pretty easy. Wouldn't be without them now.
MTFU already. I admit to still having problems getting the damn things in without folding over, but it's more irritation at myself than anything. As it happens, I only wear one in my right eye, as my left requires virtually no correction for distance. It does mean I need to carry around cheap reading glasses, but I can wear my extensive collection of sunnies, otherwise I wear my cheap varifocals for day to day use at work.
Ever though about getting them lasered?
Worked for me.
I wear them, sometimes, haven't currently got a prescription so either blag some off a mate, or get them when I'm stateside, discovered focus dailies out there, but use them for a week at a time to save having to go back and lie about why i don't have a prescription.
Never have been able to put them in the way they tell you, which is to balance the thing on your finger and as you stare at it stuff it into your eye.
I do it by putting them in the bit under the incredibly gorgeous blue bit around the dense come on black bit, then shut my eye and when I open it they are in place.
I don't go back for eye tests as all they do is give you stronger ones, as my eyes have aged I sometimes work with a lens in one eye but not in the other, (I'm myopic, that opthalmic BS for short sight, never trust opticians, the same as never trust anyone in the medical profession, none of them know what they're doing these days, they are disinterested eejiots some barely even speak our language.)
Some good advice above.
I had the same fear for years, but this year I managed to MTFU and do it.
There were a few tricks I used to get used to the idea. Firstly, as others have mentioned, spend a few weeks of getting used to having fingers near your eyes, looking in the mirror. Get used to touching the white bits, and pulling your eyelids down and up to make your eye as big and exposed as possible.
I also found the hardest bit to be letting the optician get the first pair in. Fortunately she was gorgeous, and very very patient, so that helped me MTFU and persevere. In fact, to be honest, if it wasn't for her patience I'd probably have given up.
The main thing I did to overcome the fear was to stay positive and focussed. I have a tendency to be a bit defeatist and negative, so I resolved to be 100% positive, reminding myself that it's not unusual to find it hard at first, and that if millions of other people can do it, then I definitely can too.
I'm now on daily disposables, but I only use them 0-3 times a week for social occasions and cycling. It's still taking me 2-10 minutes to get them in, but it is getting easier.
Good luck
Well some might say divine justice was dished out as I tried to get mine out last night without a mirror and it shot up behind my eyelid for a couple of hours!
Got it out just before bed-time though with a bit of eye rolling
Thanks for all the MTFU recommendations. I'm booking an appointment for next week. My girlfriend also wears contacts and has given me similar advice to the above 
The Oakleys will get their use, I really loved wearing them in the summer, not so much now the cooler weather has set in.
Cheers
Col
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