geordie mandy

this is a question for those of you who wear soft contact lenses. How did you cope wearing them while flying? Did you have any problems with your lenses drying out? Or did you just wear glasses for the duration of the flight?
As i have not flown any further than Germany im really worried about this.
Mandy

Bubbles

Hi

take them out for the flight, too dry

Tracy

geordie mandy

Thanks for that.
Mandy

ohippy

i took mine out too, don't need to now I've had them lasered

yonk

My nose dries out long haul so I'm sure the same would happen to lenses and then you are open to irritation & infection.

I now use a very small spray thing and spray a mist of water all over my face every so often - sounds weird but really works.

I have a friend who does things with jet engines & he's told me about the air mix on planes - you don't want to know, other than it's very dry as it is fed from by the engines and kept dry to reduce costs.

DebraH

i also take eye drops for contact lens wearers and the water spray idea is a good one - also drink lots of water and i mean lots of it. i take a bottle with me, the boys have one each and we take every glass/bottle that is offered to us - plain water not the booze

lollyno1

Hiya Mandy...

flown three times and took them out twice for full flight and the once half way through first flight..thats cos i fell a sleep ...god my eyes were sore when i woke up...I wear soft lenses as well...

and Debra H..love the idea of drinking lots of water..but tend to only drink the odd glass (i know i should drink more!! ) but the thought of having to go to the loo more than once in eight hours...nope cant do it...

DianneH68

Definitely take them out - not just for the dry air but because you will discover a tendency to drop off to sleep when you least expect it and waking up with them in is horrible
But put your lenses and solution in your hand luggage so if you want your first glimpse of Oz to be glasses-free you can put them in before you land

suzimc

My hubby wears hard lenses and he takes them out at the beginning of the flight and puts them back in at the end. He's got a complicated prescription and only recently have they managed to make glasses for him so in the past he had no choice but to put up with dry eyes or be blind (and he is very bad without a lens!).

mark 'n' joe

I always take them out and wear my glasses when flying. They have a tendancy to dry out and i'm always wary of nodding off with them in.

Joex

toon williams

Mandy

Seems most people say take them out and I would agree, we went to Antigua a couple of months ago which was about a 10 hour flight and I started off with mine in and they dried out really quickly, took them out and then realised had packed my glasses in my suitcase not my hand luggage so just sat and chilled whilst everything around me was very blurrrrrrry!!

Sure the flight attendants thought I was pissed when got up to go to the loo!!

Will ensure I pack my glasses in my hand luggage when we go to Oz in 4 weeks time!!!

Dont worry about it though just go prepared, with your glasses and two or three sets of Contacts, you might want to put them in when you reach your stop over etc, etc!!

Good Luck!!

Suzie

suzimc

Hi Suzie - been wondering where you are - I bet you've got loads of preparations to do now

ianandhelena

do you wear extended wear lenses (the ones you can sleep in)? if so you should be ok to keep them in-these have a low water content and are much less prone to drying out in low humidity conditions such as on board an aircraft.

examples of this type of lens are B+L Purevision, Ciba Night +Day, Ciba 02 Optix, J+J Acuvue Oasys-any of these silicon hydrogels you may find ok-i wear mine with no problem.

the advice about using comfort drops is good too in any case just to lubricate the lenses.

toon williams

Leaving in 4 weeks is just for a 6 week trip, not the BIG move that is planned for February!! But still feel like a headless chicken running around trying to organise everything, sure you know what I mean!!

Not been on here to much lately.... trying to get organised!!!

How are things your end??

BadgeIsBack

I think they might reduce the oxygen mix in the air to help passengers sleep - thus causing less hassle too!