Seeing With British Eyes

I have been recently visiting the optician. The reason for that is that I'm a contact lens wearer. The contacts I have brought over from America have all been used up, so I have been recently making the switch to British contact lenses. I'm wearing a pair right now, in fact. The optometrist has managed to find a pair of contact lenses that are very similar to my old ones. The only difference is a change of material (not that I can feel). They're £13 a month or £30 for a three month pack.

Going to the appointment initially was a bit nerve-wracking because I did not know

• How much they'd cost
• If they'd have a pair that would suit me
• If they'd be able to help because I'm like 20/500
• If the optometrists/opticians would be open and friendly
• If they'd have an equivalent measurement system

Well, all that was proved wrong. I expected they'd cost between £100-£500 plus the eye exam. The eye exam was free, though. (via Specsavers). I've been to a British doctor before, and it was much more formal and less warm when I went. (Had an ear infection when I was visiting here a few years ago) So that led me to believe that when I got my eye exam, I would feel more like "another patient" than an actual person. I'd like to establish personal relationships with any doctor I meet. I don't want to feel like "another patient" I want to feel welcome. (Is that weird of me to say?) 

Anyway, first I went in and had a brief eye exam from the optician...learned my right eye is much weaker than my left. Then I went in again to get my eyes rechecked by an optometrist, where he assisted in determining the best pair of contact lenses for me. Since I'd brought the package containing my American contact lenses, he was able to easily and quickly find an equivalent pair for me. I was given a pair of contacts to try for a trial, and I've been wearing them for four days and they've been great for me. I see just as well as with my older pair and they feel just as comfortable. I was given an interesting case though...instead of the flat one, it was a sort of capsule one. Apparently it cleans them better.

Though I've found it weird that I've had to book three separate appointments. The first was for an initial eye test plus a consultation. The one I had a few days ago was to try on contacts. The one I will have on the fourth of July will be a follow-up checkup to (hopefully) finalise everything.

All-in-all though, it's very similar to eye appointments in America. The only difference is, here, it appears as though insurance isn't needed to cover expensive appointment costs. From what I've been told, the first eye exam is free but after that it's only £35. And £13 a month? That's less than my Adobe Premiere subscription. That's a lot less than my phone bill. I'll take that. Hell yeah!

I've always thought it would be cool to try out coloured contacts so that I could alter my eye colour. But I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon...

(by the way if you cannot read this, maybe YOU should go to Specsavers and get contacts too hahahahah)



Also irrelevant note, but this entry and the last one were published at the same time...