# Left & Right contact lenses - which is which ?



## zag (1 Mar 2005)

*Left & Right contact lenses - which is which ?*

I use contact lenses and every so often when I am with the optician (not often, really) they point out that I have the wrong lense in the wrong eye.

This is despite the fact that I am normally very carefull to make sure they go into the correct side of the lense container.

The thing is that apparently there is a little R etched into the right lense and this helps to establish which is which.

Does anyone have any idea how on earth you are supposed to see it when you can't focus because you don't have your lenses in ?

Since I don't use disposables and the prescriptions are similart but not the same, if I get the wrong one in the wrong eye it can be quite a while before I work out there is something wrong.

Is there is an easy way or a knack - holding it up to the light or whatever ?

Thanks,

z


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## ClubMan (1 Mar 2005)

*The thing is that apparently there is a little R etched into the right lense and this helps to establish which is which.*

Is that true? They've come a long way since I used to wear them! I remember my brother going to work having ostensibly lost one of his lenses only to realise later that he had both in the same eye!


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## stobear (1 Mar 2005)

Its a bit of a Catch 22 alright Zag, maybe you could insert one lens into one eye and try and see if the one you have in your hand is the correct one? Or maybe they could be slightly different colours/shades?

i dont use lens myself so the above are just observations.....


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## ISBN (1 Mar 2005)

Zag, I use monthly disposable contact lenses.  I'm sure the lenses that I use do not have R or L on the actual lens itself, my prescription for the left eye is slightly stronger than the right eye so when I call to the optician for a supply of lenses, they normally mark on each box R or L.  Once I take them from the box to use them, I just make sure every evening to stick to a certain routine of taking say the Right lens out first and putting into the holder for the right lens.  If, say, you put your right lens into your left eye, would you not find it blurry if it is not the correct prescription?


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## zag (1 Mar 2005)

The thing is that the prescriptions are sufficiently close to be usable.

I have recently noticed (while looking at the information in the viewfinder of a camera) that one of my eyes can't focus on it properly while the other one can.

I reckon this is either because my prescription has changed or else I have the wrong lense in.

I know that with disposables they just mark the box with an L and a R, but since mine aren't disposable I only have the storage container to go by and if I inadvertently put them back into the wrong container I have a problem working out which is which.

z


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## ISBN (1 Mar 2005)

Apologies, I mistakenly assumed that you were also using monthly disposable contact lenses and not the long term one's.  That is quite a pain alright esp that your prescription seems to be quite similar.


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## Biggles (1 Mar 2005)

Apologies in advance if I'm missing something, but surely the "R" is etched into the side of the lenses holder that's immersed into the solution jar.

As I recall, there's often a "heart" symbol on the other side.  Not sure why, but's it's enough to create a differentiation.

If you don't have one, couldn't you get one?


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## stobear (1 Mar 2005)

Heart symbol possibly meaning the left, location of heart.....


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## ISBN (1 Mar 2005)

If you mix up the right and the left when you get them originally, then it doesn't matter that the holder has R or heart on it, cos they're already in the wrong place!!


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## zag (2 Mar 2005)

biggles - ISBN has it spot on.  I do indeed have a container with a big R on one side and a big L on the other, but as ISBN points out if the wrong lense gets into the wrong side it can be hard to work out which eye the lense is actually for.

To imagine this you need to assume a level of confusion to start with - I am in the position that I don't know which lense belongs in which eye.

z


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## Janet (2 Mar 2005)

Of course the somewhat facetious answer is to buy a different colour lense for one side - you could be the interesting person with one blue eye and one tiger-striped


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## sueellen (2 Mar 2005)

Zag,

I know this sounds like a very stupid question (nothing unusual for sueellen  ) but I always understood that you need to give your eyes a break every so often from the contacts.  Do you not have glasses that you resort to?

I only wear glasses for mainly driving/distance and have stayed away from the contacts because friends have complained about eye infections etc. and having to revert to glasses.


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## Henny Penny (2 Mar 2005)

*Contacts*

I used to wear non-disposable lenses ... one of which (possibly the right) had a slight blue tint to it ... to help tell them apart ... and went into  the box with the blue lid. Since I moved to disposables, I've never looked back. No rinsing, sterilising etc ... just throw them away every day.


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## rainyday (2 Mar 2005)

*Re: Contacts*

How does the optician know that you have got them mixed up?


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## ninsaga (2 Mar 2005)

*Re: Contacts*



> Left & Right contact lenses - which is which ?


 use your glasses why don't you


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## zag (2 Mar 2005)

To answer a few of the questions :

1) how does the optician know which is which - they either check the prescription and then check the properties of the lense by observation or else they look for the little R - but this is easy if you are an optician and have the relevant bright lights and magnifying lenses.  If the presecription for my right eye says (for example) +2.5 and the optician checks the lense and sees it is +2.25 then they know that the wrong lense is in the wrong eye.

2) using glasses to check - I have tried to do this, but still cannot see any significant mark which would give anything away.

3) henny - I can't bring myself to justify throwing away a perfectly good pair of lenses every night.  I know they are designed for single use, but to me it is like eating from paper plates evey night and just throwing away the dishes - wasteful.  I also object to paying opticians for recurring supplies of the lenses when they don't actually need to be thrown away.

Thanks for the suggestions anyway.

I guess I will go off to a search engine and see if there is any further wisdom to be found there.  I may also revert to my optician.

z


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## davco23 (2 Mar 2005)

A slight digression here..
I use daily contacts, and can`t for the life of me figure out whether they are "inside out" or not! How can you tell which side should be facing out before you put them in? The box says that you should balance them on your finger and see which side is the most concave, but when you take the lens out of the packet covered in fluid, both sides look the same. Anyone else had this problem? Apologies for jumping in on this thread.


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## ISBN (2 Mar 2005)

Davco23, as I mentioned previously, I use monthly disposable contact lenses.  When I started using them originally, I had this problem too and found it very hard to distingush if they were inside out or not.  I can easily tell the difference now, I think you just get used to knowing which is the right way.  I find if you do put them in 'inside out' they are quite uncomfortable, if you take them out and turn them upside down and replace them, if they're not as uncomfortable, you should have them the right way out! Hope that helps.


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## ClubMan (2 Mar 2005)

When I last wore soft non-disposable lenses a good few years ago I could tell if they were "inside out" because the outside rim went sort of convex (such that it would lift away from the eye at the edges) rather than concave (such that it would fit snugly) and I could usually feel this after a while. I gave up wearing lenses when I realised that being lazy and washing them in tap water from time to time probably wasn't the best for my eyes! :eek


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## Cahir (2 Mar 2005)

Davco23, I think if you use acuvue lenses you get used to the shape the contact should be when balancing on your finger.  Just take two out, turn one the wrong way and look at the difference!

I've just changed brands (cos acuvue put their prices up again and getlenses weren't sending a receipt email so I could get my piggypoints) and I find the new brand are much firmer and don't seem to flip inside out at all.


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## davco23 (4 Mar 2005)

*Just take two out, turn one the wrong way and look at the difference!*

D'Oh!! You would think after six months of wearing them I'd have come up with that idea!!
Thanks Cahir.


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