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Comment by benehmke | Hacker News Reader

FWIW, the biggest pain is the prescription.

My doctor only does 1 year prescriptions, my prescription hasn't changed for 15 years. It's important to get your eyes checked, but every year is a bit nuts. I guess we have some federal organization to thank for that.

I'd love to see you guys figure that problem out. Maybe you could figure out how to ship from out of the US or something. Hell, I'd pay more if I didn't have to go to the doctor every year.

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I use Daysoft [1], they're their own brand of contacts, but by the inventor of the daily disposable, and I've used them for years and have been great. They're UK based so all you're required to do to "prove" prescription is check a box. No need to submit anything for prescription (since this isn't required by UK law, there's nothing to stop you buying contacts from anywhere in the UK). They're also <$20 for 30 lenses.

[1] https://www.daysoft.com/

Interesting point. We currently direct a lot of our customers to Opternative (https://www.opternative.com/) to renew their prescription. Medium term, we might look into doing some of this in house.

Check out simplecontacts.com - they do a renewal exam that takes like 2 minutes and they'll sell you contacts too. I checked my brand - Acuvue Daily Moist and it's cheaper there than on Jetlenses

You should check out Opternative. They do eye exams using your computer, though I'm not sure if they're licensed in every state.

<wisper>I just order from the UK</wisper>

no prescription needed?

nope... uk gets something right I guess

You need a prescription to buy contact lenses in the US? Pills and such makes sense, but what can you do wrong with contacts, apart from having the wrong strength/astigmatism?

Ophthalmologists need money!

Believe it or not, it used to be illegal (in certain US states) to purchase reading glasses 'over the counter'.

That's right, reading glasses were by prescription only.

Well played. I do the same but in Korea where the price for my brand is about $2 cheaper than JetLenses.

I have my vision checked in the contact store itself (for free) if I need it and then a proper eye exam during my annual physical check up (which is fully subsidized by my employer - a common practice, albeit at varying levels of support).

> It's important to get your eyes checked, but every year is a bit nuts.

Sounds pretty reasonable to me, and it's not just to update your prescription, it's also to check how healthy your eyes are.

Exactly. A couple of years ago at my yearly eye checkup found a small hole in my retina. Pretty common with near-sighted people. The eyeball is elongated and this stretches the retina a little bit. It's also a fast track to complete blindness in that eye. You might see the hole as distortion in your vision, depending on where in your eye it is, or you may not be able to see it at all. If untreated the whole retina will detach and you are permanently blind in that eye, and there's no treatment. If I hadn't gone to that yearly checkup, there's a good chance I would have been blind in that eye before the next one.

The treatment for the hole in the retina was one of the most awesome procedures I've ever had. The doctor puts on this big headset that completely covers his face, with multiple microscope-type lenses and a visible green laser shooting out the front. Looks like the borg. He holds your eye open and using the visible laser to aim, points at the edge of the hole and activates the IR laser, blap, blap, blap (it actually makes that sound) as it stitches the edge of the hole down. It feels like you're getting poked in the eye hard each time so he has to stop after a few cause your eye freaks out and moves. Wait a few seconds till it settles down and continue. My eye felt like it had been punched hard, but that faded by the end of the day. Repair is still holding coming up on 3 years.

Go to to your annual medical checkups.

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