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After wearing Soflens for a couple of years, I decided to try Bausch & Lomb PureVision. I learned about B&L PureVision back in April and wanted to try them because they are approved for wear up to 30 days and for sleeping in the contacts. I miss sleeping in my contacts. Several years ago I had worn Accuvue which are approved for sleeping. There was also information that suggested that the PureVision would be more healthy for my eyes than the SoftLens because more oxygen gets to the eye. I went to the optometrist, had a contact lens fitting exam and got the trial pair. My eye doctor noted that I have blood vessels in my eyes from the Soflens and felt that the PureVision would improve that condition (reducing the blood vessels which are not good).

The first few days of wear were disappointing. Even though more oxygen gets through the lens, they are more rigid and less comfortable than other lens. I tried to wear them for a few hours a day and build up tolerance. I went back to the optometrist and he suggested that my eyes were somewhat calloused from my previous lens and that over time the callous would go away and the Soflens would be more comfortable.

I am stubborn and do not like to give up especially knowing that the lens might improve the health of my eyes for the long term. I am in my mid 50’s and I want to be able to continue to wear contact lenses indefinitely. I stuck with the PureVision, purchased two boxes which should have given me 6 months of wear. I started to notice that a brand new pair of lens was comfortable but after several days of wearing they became irritated. I felt that this must be a cleaning problem. I researched on the Internet and contacted my optometrist and tried some new cleaning solutions both Clear Care and AMO UltraCare with Ultrazyme enzymatic cleaner. They seemed to help. However, I still found that I could go at most 3 weeks with a pair before they were too irritating to wear.

Even with improved cleaning, I still found that I sometimes ended up in situation where it is late in the day, the lenses are irritating and I am out and it is not convenient to take out my contacts. I still had a pair of SofLens and I started wearing them on days when it was important to have a full day of comfort.

I have now been wearing the Bausch & Lomb PureVision lenses for almost 5 months. It was time to go back to the optometrists for an annual exam. The good news was that the blood vessels in my eyes had reduced from .25 to trace. The bad news is that the lenses still are not as comfortable as I would like for them to be. We decided that I would go on a 2 week wearing schedule and that I would also use Soflens for times when it was really important to me to have the comfort.

I purchased one box of PureVision and one box of Soflens (same prescription in both eyes). Since PureVision are rather expensive, I decided that I will search for the best prices on the Internet and purchase online. I will post my research results soon!

To summarize by overall review of the PureVision Multifocal Lens –

Benefits:
1. Healthier for the eyes because more oxygen gets to the eyes. In my mind, health has to be the number one factor.
2. Approved for sleeping.
3. Approved for 30 days of wear.

Disadvantages:
1. Comfort – This has to be subjective. I imagine that some folks do not have the discomfort that I have with them. My suggestion is to get a trial pair and see for yourself.
2. Price – They are a newer technology and more expensive than say the Soflens. This is a good reason to shop on the Internet and get the best price. Also, if you are able to get 30 days of wear out of them, the price is actually less than Soflens which are recommended for 2 weeks.

Here’s the best price I could find on PureVision Multi-Focal Contact Lenses:

FREE Standard Shipping on all orders of $99 or more. Use Coupon Code: AF09-TFOD
Lens.com: FREE Standard Shipping on all orders of $99 or more using code AF09-TFOD. Offer expires 7/31/09

The list price is higher at Coastal Contacts but they have a 110% price guarantee (meaning they will match the price and beat it by 10%). Give it a try:

Purevision Multifocal

All Orders Over $99 Ship Free at Coastal Contacts! No Coupon Code Required.

I have been wearing Bausch & Lomb Soflens multi-focal contact lens for about 2 years. I tried a couple of other brands and even wore one for a couple of years before settling on the excellent vision provided by the Bausch & Lomb Soflens. In my opinion, the advantages of the Soflens are many:

Excellent vision at distance, intermediate, and reading. This was very important to me. I, of course, wanted excellent vision for driving. I also spend lots of time on the computer and the intermediate distance was important and finally, although I could use reading glasses, the whole point of bifocal contact lenses is to not need them, so this is important too.

Comfort. The Bausch & Lomb are very comfortable. I put them in and forget I am wearing them. I do not feel the need to use eye drops during the day.

Ease of putting in and taking out. They are very durable and very easy to handle. In two years of taking them in and out every day, I have never nicked or torn a lens. I throw them away after 3 – 4 weeks because they do become a little uncomfortable from protein build up and this is the healthy thing to do (changing to fresh lenses as recommended).

With all the benefits, are there any negatives to the Baush & Lomb multifocals? Yes, there is just one negative that I am aware of, that is, they are not approved for sleeping (extended wear). My optometrist actually recommended that I try sleeping in them. I did and it was no good. They were uncomfortable and my eyes felt dry. It was not a good thing.

With this great of a review, you would think that I would never consider changing but low and behold I found out that Basuch & Lomb has a new multifocal lens called PureVision that has all of the advantages of the Soflens and can be worn for up to 30 days and nights. Wow, I’ve got to try them.

While researching, I also took a look at places to pick up contact lenses on line. Here’s a source that has a low price guarantee and additional reviews from their customers:

SofLens Multi-Focal Contact Lenses