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[Ampersands]

After years of wearing glasses, I decided to join the glasses-less master race. Except I can't.

My eyes refuse to let me anywhere near them. I literally struggled for hours trying to put one in my right eye (my good one) and just couldn't do it. Whenever I got close, my eyelids would shut regardless of the fingers holding them open. And when I actually do manage to get the contact to touch my eye, I blink and force it out.

I'm really frustrated because glasses just don't look right on me. Contacts are something I really want, but I just can't get over this initial hurdle. And it kills me because mentally, I'm okay with putting something in my eye; my body just won't let me do it.

Any tips, tricks or words of wisdom for me?

 

[Vermillion]

It's always difficult getting it in the first time. You'll get it eventually.

Spoiler

And yes, I know. It's not on purpose, per-se, but I know.

 

[Hours Left]

Practice touching the side of your eye without the contact lens first. (With clean hands obviously.) Do this while looking in the mirror so you get used to not looking at your finger directly. Also, relax. Eventually you'll get used to it.

I had no problem when I first got mine, but I never had a problem touching my eyes.

 

[Arjen]

I wish I could help you, but I never had any trouble putting them in.
Hold your eyelid with your left hand, put lens on tip of a finger form the right hand, use other finger to pull down the bottom part of your eye.
Maybe ask someone to show you?

 

[Skeyser]

I really just push my bottom eyelid with the middle finger and place the lens with the index.

 

[Broder Salsa]

They usually help you with it, the place you buy them the first time. I sucked at first too, but with the help and tips from them, it worked out.

 

[oreomunsta]

Just hang in there and keep trying. You're just fighting your natural reflex of removing foreign objects from the surface of your eye. Over time and with practice, your body will stop trying to reject it

 

[MIMIC]

After years of wearing glasses, I decided to join the glasses-less master race. Except I can't.

My eyes refuse to let me anywhere near them. I literally struggled for hours trying to put one in my right eye (my good one) and just couldn't do it. Whenever I got close, my eyelids would shut regardless of the fingers holding them open. And when I actually do manage to get the contact to touch my eye, I blink and force it out.

I'm really frustrated because glasses just don't look right on me. Contacts are something I really want, but I just can't get over this initial hurdle. And it kills me because mentally, I'm okay with putting something in my eye; my body just won't let me do it.

Any tips, tricks or words of wisdom for me?

I've been wearing them since middle school (28 now) but I think it just gets easier with time. I don't even remember if I struggled with the feeling of putting something in my eye. I'm gonna assume that I did and that it simply got easier with practice.

Nonetheless, something I do to this day (out of habit, not necessity) is that reach around my head with my left hand and hold my upper eyelid open with my middle and ring finger (be careful not to poke yourself in the eye), and hold my lower eyelid open with the ring finger of my right hand (with the contact on my middle finger).

No way will you be able to blink.

 

[Dougald]

I recently started wearing them and I had the same problem as you OP, my eyes just shutting before I could get the lens in. Eventually I just got used to it, I found the best thing was to watch myself put it in in the mirror, as I'd be closing my eyes before the lens got anywhere near my eyeball otherwise.

Make sure your fingers are dry, use the technique the optician should have taught you, and just keep at it. If you get fustrated, don't continue as it won't be helpful. You'll get it eventually. If I, a person who hates eyes and still feels sick at the thought of putting a lens in can do it first time, you'll get there too.

 

[DBT85]

I've worn them on and off for about 15 years or so, can get them in and out without a mirror or any particular effort.

For putting them in, you want your inserting finger as dry as possible once the lens is on it. If it's wet then the lens will want to stick to it, if it's dry the lens will want to jump to your eye. So I open the packet, drain the solution out, remove the lens with any other finger than the one I want to use, and then move it to the one I want to use. That way any excess moisture is not on that finger.

Try looking all the way left or right and popping the lens on the white of your eye rather than right on your lens, then slowly look ahead and move your eye around.

If you fail and it rolls up or whatever, take it out and unfold it, don't try and wash it every time, you'll just put more crap on it.

If you try 3 or 4 times and fail, put it back in the solution and give it 5 minutes to let your eye calm down, cold water on a flannel will help with that.

You're going to put them on inside out, they are going to go round the back of your eye, you're going to put them in with grit and hair and dust in them, they are going to fall out and bounce off into the distance.

If it's in but feels a bit itchy, put your finger on your eye and then move your eye under it to move the lens away, then let it slide back. I find that usually clears the crap out.

For removal, do the above and then just pinch it. Can be a pain if you have longer nails.

 

[Gibbo]

Before putting your lens in, make sure that they are not 'inside-out' . How you check this is that the rim of the contact lenses should not be curving outwards.

 

[soco]

you just get used to it.

Make sure they aren't flipped inside out. While you can get those on, it's uncomfortable.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

I don't. I'm not sticking something in my eye. Sucks, though because I notice the frames all the damn time.

 

[gimmmick]

Been wearing RGPs (glass lens) for the past 11 years. You get used to them, but still a pain in the ass to keep conditioning them and ordering a new pair every year. Thank god my insurance finally pays all of it, but the sad thing is that I only get one appointment each year. It's the only way to go, esp with my condition that I have with my eyes. (glasses are worthless, I have to wear contacts or get the surgery to fix my vision).

 

[ZackieChan]

When I first got mine, it took a few hours to get them in, if at all. Just keep plugging away. If your eyes are irritated from trying, take a break and try again later. It's not easy, but you'll get it.

I've been wearing them for 20-some years, and even now I have trouble getting them in about half the time. Once they're in, though, I'm good.

 

[Thoraxes]

I know some people hold their eyes open with two fingers on one hand, look up with your eyeball so you can't see the finger from your dominant hand coming, then pop it on and blink a few times.

It was effortless for me, but for some people I know, they just need to make sure they can't see that finger coming at their eyeball, so looking up helps. The shape of your eye is such that the lens will adjust to the iris with a few blinks anyways.

And make sure you clean your hands before you do it. Less irritation on the eyes.

 

[MarshallH]

Oh man, I remember the hell of the first week of having contact lenses. I had the same problems you're having. Stick with it though, it'll get better when your eyes get used to having something near it. Like a friend of mine said to me at the time: "It sucks at first, but eventually you'll be able to do it one-handed, in the dark, when you're drunk out of your skull." He was right.

Sounds like you don't have a good grip on your eyelids. If you have a good grip, your eye should not be able to close. Also, make sure the action of putting the lens in is one smooth action. The more you have to fiddle, the harder it is to keep your eye open.

 

[Soodanim]

I got lenses for the first time a few months ago (daily, single use).

Some days things just don't work out as well as you'd like, regardless of whether you are experienced or not. So there's that.

Have you tried looking off centre when you put them in? My optician taught me this method:

If you're doing your left eye, try looking across your nose with your right eye. The eye is less sensitive if you touch the white instead of the main bits, so put it on off centre then slide it across.

Doc also recommended letting go of the lower eyelid first to sort of lock the lens in place. Works for me.

 

[wondermega]

I got them when I was 18 (20 yrs ago). Man oh man was that a miserable time. I think it took me like 45 minutes, at least, to get that 1st one in.

But yeah basically you just need to practice touching your eye. That sounds crazy, if you haven't, especially after so many years of never doing that. Just practice, practice, practice, with no contact lens (or mirror), when you are sitting and doing something else so all of your attention isn't hyper-focused on it. Start maybe brushing against your eyelashes, then along your eyelids, and eventually just very faintly touch your cornea, it will maybe take you a few sessions. Look to one side and touch the other where you won't actually see your finger)

For me, it always helped when I would think of the fact that my eye was also covered with a "skin" of its own to naturally protect itself (think about it!) so that it meant I wasn't touching my actual EYEBALL, just the protective skin.

Even after all these years, I really can't put them in/take them out without a mirror. Force of habit. Some people are too nervous and can actually NEVER do it. Just relax and take your time, you'll get it!

 

[Dougald]

Doc also recommended letting go of the lower eyelid first to sort of lock the lens in place. Works for me.

Good point, if I don't do this, the lens just pops off and I have to start all over again

 

[abracadaver]

My fingers never touch the eye and you shouldn't try to learn or get used to it either by trying to touch the side of your eye.

When I got my contacts the woman in the store put them in for me the first time. I had to remove them myself that took a couple of minutes. Next day at home it took me 45 minutes to get the lenses in because I too was blinking all the time. After that it got better and better every day. After a weeks you can get them in on first try. Just don't give up. Lenses are awesome.

 

[Phat Michael]

Before putting your lens in, make sure that they are not 'inside-out' . How you check this is that the rim of the contact lenses should not be curving outwards.

Listen to this man. This is CRITICAL.

Also:

1) Keep solution at work - sometimes your lens will pop out.
2) NEVER use Bauch and Lomb solution - some people (like me) had a serious reaction to it and it caused conjunctivitis.
3) wash your hands thoroughly before you do anything.
4) if it is a 2 week lens, you can use it for 4.

 

[MIMIC]

I just tried using one hand to put my contacts in.

Felt SUPER weird. lol I got them in without any issues, but....I guess I'll always be a two-hander.

EDIT: Looked up putting contacts in on YouTube. My first result:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sabAU4_Obic

I don't do ANYTHING like that, lol

EDIT: OK, I do more like they do in this Acuvue instructional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gSltoRSFCU
But I'm reaching ALL the way around my head; the fingers I use to hold my upper lid are coming DOWN and not from the sides.

 

[Trey]

Just wait until your eyelids have an allergic reaction to the contacts and the small bumps that form as a result drag said contact out of place every single time you blink.

 

[Ampersands]

Thanks for all the tips guys.

I am sorta confused on where you look when you're putting in the lens. Do you look directly at the lens or do you look away? I feel like I can get closer if I don't look at it but my optician says to look directly at the lens.

I am also deathly afraid of putting the lens in the wrong way. I blame it on this stupid comic.

The lens should naturally fold the right way, right? It seems really hard to discern the edges on the thing if it's inside-out.

 

[DBT85]

Ha, It's not THAT bad when they are inside out.

They won;t default to the right way around, they'll just go whichever way is easier at the time. IF you are unsure just turn one inside out and compare. You'll soon see which is which.

4) if it is a 2 week lens, you can use it for 4.

I found the same tbh.

 

[Skeyser]

I am also deathly afraid of putting the lens in the wrong way. I blame it on this stupid comic.

Don't worry too much about it, it's uncomfortable, but you just take them off and the slight pain will be gone.

 

[Necromanti]

I had the same problem, OP, so I eventually gave up because it got too frustrating and time-consuming. Some of my other friends who wear contacts sounded confused and laughed when I recounted my experiences since they didn't really have any trouble with theirs, so I naïvely convinced myself that I was perhaps not cut out for contacts. There's always LASIK in the future, I guess.

 

[MIMIC]

It hurts even worse when you accidentally put the right eye into the LEFT eye X_X

J/K. It only hurts a little

Spoiler

I mean not at all

 

[Icanplaythat]

First things first, choose which hand will be the lens hand, I suggest it be your dominate hand. For the sake of consistency always use the same hand for lens application.

When I first started using contacts, I had trouble because my eyelashes are very long (like a lady) and they would impede the path to the eye.

So you want to take your non-lens hand and with the index finger pin your lashes (and consequently your eyelid) upward against your brow. In this position you will not blink.

The lens should have already been at the tip of your other hands index finger ready to be applied before the "pinning of the lid". Make sure the lens is good and moist, APPLY!

This part is weird, in that you don't really want to use much pressure at all. The moisture of your eye will attract the moisture of the lens, so just get close, butterfly kisses man.

Slowly blink a few times and position if needed (I have toric lenses, so sometimes I spin the lens a little as soon as it's in).

As fun (gross) practice, do the eyelash/eyelid pinning move and the touch the white part of your eye gently with clean hands. YOU WILL NOT BLINK!

BTW, your optometrist should not have let you leave with lenses or a prescription without you being able to apply and remove your lenses a couple of times.

 

[Soodanim]

Regarding inside out lenses, I find it hard to tell on mine. Maybe it's because I chose the top-tier that Boots (UK) have, but the only way I can tell is by squeezing them slightly and seeing which way round gives away the concave preference. But with mine the doc said it'll likely just feel a little less comfortable.

So it depends on your lenses.

 

[Joyful]

just keep doing it

had the same problem, its basically because your eye isnt desensitized to the contacts yet

soon itll take you like 5 seconds tops

 

[Ampersands]

BTW, your optometrist should not have let you leave with lenses or a prescription without you being able to apply and remove your lenses a couple of times.

I'm still in that try-it-on phase. I was planning on giving it another shot soon since I couldn't do it the first time.

 

[wondermega]

Thanks for all the tips guys.

I am sorta confused on where you look when you're putting in the lens. Do you look directly at the lens or do you look away? I feel like I can get closer if I don't look at it but my optician says to look directly at the lens.

I am also deathly afraid of putting the lens in the wrong way. I blame it on this stupid comic.

The lens should naturally fold the right way, right? It seems really hard to discern the edges on the thing if it's inside-out.

I always look away from the lens. Actually I can hear the little suction noise and I know I am good to go & that it won't fall out. Then just blink, look over to where it is, and then it sits right where it is supposed to.

I've put them in backward plenty of times but seldom could tell by feeling, and even then it was not even painful in the slightest. Just a little odd-feeling perhaps.

 

[Icanplaythat]

I'm still in that try-it-on phase. I was planning on giving it another shot soon since I couldn't do it the first time.

One thing I didn't mention, you don't want the finger holding the lens to be drenched, the lens will "stick" a bit more to a wet finger.

Once I extract a lens from it's chamber, I'll move it to my left index finger, wipe my right index finger on a towel, switch the lens back to the right index finger and apply. As always, you don't want to touch the inside of the lens, as you may sully it or draw away moisture.

 

[aeolustl]

Don't close the other eye while wearing.
It should be easier.

 

[Icanplaythat]

Thanks for all the tips guys.

I am sorta confused on where you look when you're putting in the lens. Do you look directly at the lens or do you look away? I feel like I can get closer if I don't look at it but my optician says to look directly at the lens.

Yeah, I start by looking directly into a mirror and then slightly upward at the lens as it comes in.

 

[MIMIC]

I always look directly at the lens. But it doesn't matter. I just hate sliding it around my eyeball

 

[Icanplaythat]

Before putting your lens in, make sure that they are not 'inside-out' . How you check this is that the rim of the contact lenses should not be curving outwards.

This is a great image. If your not sure with your lens, with your lens on your index finger hold it up eye level and just look for a natural curve.

 

[sixghost]

I know some people hold their eyes open with two fingers on one hand, look up with your eyeball so you can't see the finger from your dominant hand coming, then pop it on and blink a few times.

It was effortless for me, but for some people I know, they just need to make sure they can't see that finger coming at their eyeball, so looking up helps. The shape of your eye is such that the lens will adjust to the iris with a few blinks anyways.

And make sure you clean your hands before you do it. Less irritation on the eyes.

The bolded part is the key. Once I realized you just needed to look somewhere so that you couldn't see the contact going in, it was easy. I literally couldn't do it any other way.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

The rest is just practice and training your blink reflex away. Stare forward and push that lens onto your globular mass of gelatinous eyestuff.

 

[BoilersFan23]

Keep practicing and watch tutorials on YouTube. I use to be super scared of letting anything in my eyes, but I kept trying. Now I have a massive collection of colored contacts (I use contacts for cosplaying).

 

[Jzero]

Some of you use two hands to put the lens in? fucking lol.

 

[PizzaFarmer]

Tip #1: Do the taco test to determine if a contact is inside out before putting it in. It is easy to do and you will never have to worry about a backwards contact again!

http://youreyesite.com/eye-care/contact-lens-insertion-removal-tips/

Tip #2: To put a contact in, try moving it closer to your eye as slow as you can. Once the contact just barely touches your eye, roll your fingertip off and tilt your head up at the ceiling. Look around in all directions with your eye, then blink. It should stay in.

Tip #3: To remove a contact, lightly touch the center of your eye with your middle finger, then slowly move the finger around until you feel the contact start to bunch up. Then pinch the contact between your middle finger and thumb to remove.

 

[Dreadnought]

I usually just pull my bottom eye lid down and use my other hand to place the contact on my eye. I then move the contact around to get rid of air bubbles so it doesn't fall out.

It doesn't hurt at all but you might not be able to do it OP since you're eyes are real sensitive at first.

The first time I got contacts it took me hours just to get one in. Also OP for taking them out use both hands and take your index fingers and place them at opposite ends of the contact and gently push, the contact will fall right off your eye. Make sure your fingers are placed ON your contact and not your eye, and don't use your fingernails.

Also always wash your hands before putting them in and don't ever wash your contacts with regular water, use the solution. And ALWAYS check your contact before putting it in to make sure there's no hair or dirt in it, if there's even a tiny tear on the side of it dispose of it and open a new one.

 

[Ryaaan14]

Look up so you're not putting your contact directly on your iris. That is the most sensitive part of your eye and you'll wanna blink if you see your finger coming right at your fuckin eyeball.

 

[KevinRo]

Those 2 week lenses can be used far longer than 4 weeks.

 

[Mindwipe]

Don't be worried that it takes a lot of practice.

When I first started I booked an entire week off work and just sat in the opticians poking myself in the eye for days. I didn't get one in successfully until Thursday.

 

[ElectricKaibutsu]

Ooooh man, I was so bad at first. When I first got them and the doctor tried to put them in, he got pretty mad at me since I kept blinking. It took forever.

Anyway, how I got used to them was: look in the mirror, use your left hand keep your eye wide and your right hand to put in the contact. Put it in below your pupil. When you blink it will go to the correct spot. Hope that helps, OP. Just remember, everyone was terrible at first.

 

[Teppic]

You'll get it eventually. It takes a while for your eyes to adjust to putting them in without blinking, but once you learned that it's easy to put them in. I didn't even use a mirror.