$65 is too expensive?  Wow.  In my office I charge $275 for contact
lens exams for new patients and $175 for returning patients.

It's not the prescription power of the lenses that people worry about.
It's the health and physiology of the eye.  Often times,  changes in
the eye health of contact lens wearers do NOT show symptoms until the
disease state is far advanced.  That's why contact lens wearers should
be examined once per year.

nipidoc

Depends on the state.  In California, prescriptions for glasses or
contacts are only good for a year.

What brand, diameter and base curve do you need?  If you don't know the
answers to those questions it's a fool's errand to try to fit yourself
with contacts -- especially if you have astigmatism.  I had to try 16
different pair of lenses over a period of perhaps six months in both RGP
and soft before finally settling on some that are adequate, but not
good, and the fit of which lenses varies greatly from individual lens to
individual lens.  The exercise cost me $450 and I am unable to order
more lenses because some of the damn things may not fit even though they
all come from the same batch.

That's pretty cheap for a contact lens fitting, which may require MANY
return visits.

Eye exams don't expire. Contact lens prescriptions usually expire after one
year, except where state law says different.

Two-year prescriptions are common for eyeglasses, and most states (the ones
that bother to regulate it) recognize two years unless the doctor specifies
otherwise. Most eye doctors recommend routine eye examinations every one to
two years. Most vision care plans allow healthy examinations and replacement
lenses at one- or two-year intervals.

How much do you spend getting your hair cut? How much do women spend on
fingernails and tanning booths?  How much did you spend the last time you
saw any other doctor out-of-pocket?

Today, it's possible to buy almost any regulated device or drug without a
prescription. Doesn't mean it's smart.

Prolly. You could also stick a bowl on your head and trim around the edges,
and call it a haircut, too.

-MT

Walmart, aka "America's death star",  is only charging $65  for a CL exam?
Sounds like their sweatshop labor policies are paying off.

Robert Martellaro
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Optician/Owner
Roberts Optical
robopt@execpc.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself."
 - Richard Feynman