Contact lenses

[overmonnow]

Hello,

I pay £25 per month through Specsavers in England for 3-monthly delivery of daily-disposable contact lenses.  Is there a similar service/company in France and what sort of costs would I be looking at? 

Any thoughts and suggestions would be gratefully received...

Thanks,

Emma-Jane Lockhart

[Val_2]

I paid 76€ last week for my next 6 months supply of lenses which you throw after one month's wear so its about the same cost. I have bad eyes and these are very strong prescription lenses,one being a special stigmatism lens. A bottle of cleaning liquid which lasts three months costs about 12€. When I need a new supply I just go visit the local Opticien who orders them in and they arrive in about four days. Remember in France an optician(uk spelling) does not exam eyes,only makes and dispenses glasses etc.

[Neil]

Val, in the UK there used to be two sorts of opticians: ophthalmic and dispensing. The difference was that only the former could examine and prescribe; the latter were confined to making and fitting, and are presumably the equivalent of the French opticien. Who conducts the examination in France?

[Kittycat]

Amber,

I don't know about mail order but I recently paid €64 for one months supply of Acuvue daily wear lenses from my local optician. This struck me as being quite pricey but I only want them for the odd special occasion. If I were to want them on a regular basis, I'd probably try searching on-line for a better price.

Good Luck.

[Will]

I pay 112€ for a 3-month supply of one-day Focus lenses at my local high-street optician which actually compares very well with internet suppliers. Even if it was more I would stick with this because after experiencing so many non-deliveries, errors in orders and customs surcharges with internet providers - with the consequent time, phone calls and general hassle sorting it out - the convenience of just ordering them locally and receiving them a couple of days later is well worth paying a few euros more.

In France the optician just supplies the lenses or specs - you have to go to an optométriste or an opthalmologue to get an eye test and prescription, and there is often a long waiting list for these.

[Kittycat]

Will,

That sounds like a very good price. Is your local optician part of a chain, or are they situated in a big town?  Mine is a sole trader in a small village who doesn't offer a choice of brands. Perhaps when I run out of the Acuvue, I'll shop around a bit more. They were a bit of an impulse buy....

[Will]

It's a small local company, with two shops, in nearby towns, but is part of a chain called ATOL. I think the personal service you get from shops like that is well worth any extra you may pay.

[Franglais24]

I've used http://www.postoptics.co.uk for years. They're the cheapest I've ever found and very reliable. They do post abroad.

If you're in the UK they require you (by law) to send in a copy of your prescription & evidence that you've had a checkup within the last 12 months. It's possible that this might be waived if you're abroad.

F24.

[Annabell]

I've just browsed that site and they are half price compared to what I've been paying in England.

Does anybody know if you take your prescription into an Opticians here whether they will give you lenses straight from that without the eye test?

[overmonnow]

Hello,

Thanks for all your suggestions - I have checked out postoptics and they are indeed cheaper than Specsavers...  But I haven't been able to find out how much international postage is..?

If we become affiliated to the French health system through an E106 form, and have a top-up insurance policy, how much if anything would we be able to claim for in respect of contact lenses?

Thanks,

 

Emma-Jane

[Kittycat]

This is a reply to Annabell, re the prescription.

When I bought my lenses recently, I just took in the prescription I was given from my UK optician before I left the UK 2 years ago. He used this without question.

On a short trip back to Britain earlier this year, I had an eye test at Vision Express and have the revised prescription for my glasses. I'm still debating whether to have glasses made up here, or back in Uk when I have to go back again next month.

[Réglisse]

Does anyone else have experience of varifocal contact lenses? I'm on my second trial pair of monthly disposables and the optician said that it is likely that it will take several months to find the right ones for me. Am I the only person stumbling around rural France looking like I've been on the vin rouge? (Not counting those of you have been .) According to the optician "c'est normal" ......

 

[Val_2]

Got a nasty feeling I might have to switch over to these next year when I go for next eye examination. My eyes have changed rapidly this year and now I cannot read clearly the paper or magazines with any sort of glasses or lenses whereas before I needed reading glasses to go ontop of my lenses. My husband wears glasses with lenses like yours and it took him over six months before he could see properly,he used to drive by guesswork he said comically to frighten me and use his machinery. How do the price of these compare to normal prescription monthly throwaways, I buy Bausch & Lomb lenses.

[Dick Smith]

[quote]Does anyone else have experience of varifocal contact lenses? I'm on my second trial pair of monthly disposables and the optician said that it is likely that it will take several months to find the ...[/quote]

Not lenses, but glasses, and I couldn't stand them. However, I know someone with VF lenses and she is fine. I got new glasses last week and the optician tried to persuade me to get varifocals, and admitted that some people never adjust.

[Réglisse]

Thanks for your replies, Val and Dick. Val, sadly it seems that what you describe is an inevitable side-effect of middle age .

Dick, I have tried bringing up with the optician the topic of some people never adjusting to varifocals, but can't get past the "c'est normal" response to everything from the fact that I have even worse vision then before I started with the **** things, through to the headaches and dizziness. Things are further complicated in France by the weird system of having your eyes tested one place (in my case at the hospital, as there was only (!) a 4 month waiting list there) and then getting your specs/contacts somewhere else. I feel that this means there is a lack of continuity of care.

I wondered about the feasibility of wearing lenses to correct distance vision with reading glasses on top for reading, as required. Has anyone else tried that and is it a pain?

[Dick Smith]

I've heard of it, in the context of having distance lenses and then buying those cheap (£2.50 or something) magnifying glasses from Woolworths. I have no idea how well it works, though. A friend's wife recently had laser corrective surgery, and I think she ended up needing glasses for close work. My optometrist tells me that it is because, as we get older, our ability to compensate by focussing with the eyeball is reduced.

I think my failure to adjust to varifocals was because I tend to move my head, not just my eyes when I look, so I was always looking through the same part of the lens, but aware that things were swimming around and changing shape in my peripheral vision. Nasty.

[Franglais24]

Dick,

I had those sensations with glasses simply for short sight, when I purchased them from Specsavers. The senior lady there explained that their lenses tended to be thicker at the edges than average for the industry, and it was possibly this that was causing the problem. But she also said that this was the first complaint she'd had, so it might just be me. I should go away and try for a bit longer, I should get used to it. I haven't.

So it might be worth trying varifocals from another supplier.

F24.

[Val_2]

[quote]Thanks for your replies, Val and Dick. Val, sadly it seems that what you describe is an inevitable side-effect of middle age . Dick, I have tried bringing up with the optician the topic of some peop...[/quote]

Zan, that is currently what I have to do. I am short sighted so need lenses to drive or see a distance and then glasses to read close,although that has changed a bit this year. It is a pain because in meetings I need the glasses on to read the papers and then when there is something on the blackboard I have to look over the top of the glasses and I always forget to take them out with me as well.