Korean Job Discussion Forums

irishsox28 · Joined: 27 Oct 2008

I'm coming to Seoul and had some questions about the availability of contact lens solutions. I wear soft contact lenses, but they're permanent (I don't throw them away, I clean them nightly and replace them every 1-1.5 years). I use a saline solution and a disinfectant solution at night (AO Sept, for those of who you wear similar lenses). I was wondering if these two products are available widely in Seoul. If so, where and how much? If they are not widely available, what is there in Seoul to clean contact lenses? If I had to bring a year's supply of this stuff out, I wouldn't be able to fit any clothes in my luggage. So I was hoping I wouldn't have to.

Hyeon Een · Joined: 24 Jun 2005

They sell the saline solution in every convenience store as well as other places. I heard it's way cheaper than in western countries. But I've never bought it so I don't know.

Dunno about the other stuff. I don't wear contacts.

i · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Location: Seoul

Might not help, but I wear disposables. I can get my prescription easier here than in the US. Plus, you don't need a prescription. Just show them your old box or tell them what you need.
In the past, I also used a mail-order service from the states. Can't remember the name now. But you can always order if not available here.
Contacts here are the same as in the US. They don't make their own, as far as I know. But with non-disposable ones, I guess it depends on if Koreans like them.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

There are a few different brands.

I use Optifree and they have that here. Just recently, they got Optifree Refresh for Silicone Hydrogel lenses.

If I were you OP, I'd switch lenses. Keeping 1 pair of lenses for 1-1.5 years is kind of crazy. I was told soft lenses lose their effectiveness over time. Also, protein and other nasty stuff builds up on the lenses, regardless of how many times you clean them.

See about getting the new Silicone Hydrogel lenses. They allow a LOT of oxygen through to your eyes to make them comfortable. Also, you throw them away after a few weeks.

I always find my eyes feel refreshed when I put in a new set of lenses.

I tried Daily disposables for a while and I didn't like them. If you put them in at 9am, around 10pm that night, your eyes are tired and lenses get dry. I was disappointed that the daily disposable lenses couldn't go a full 18 hours of use.

The most popular brand of soft lenses in Korea is Acuvue. They have the Acuvue Advanced, which are silicone Hydrogels. I really like those.

gogirlgo · Joined: 30 Nov 2007

Seconded switching to disposables. I've never seen AO Sept here. In fact, I didn't know people still used it. I used it about 15 years ago but switched to disposables maybe 10 years ago. Ah crap, I'm aging myself... Smile

irishsox28 · Joined: 27 Oct 2008

I wish I could use disposables. My eyes are so bad that I need to have the semi-permanent lenses that need to be disinfected every night. They take special orders to make and multiple fittings and believe me do I wish I could have disposables. It's good to hear that saline solution is easy to get, that will lighten my luggage quite a bit. Does anyone know if it's legal for me to pack like 25 bottles of my disinfectant in my luggage? Or would transporting such large quantities of one product put up some kind of red flag and get my luggage held back?

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

I used to get AOSEPT here until a few years ago. I'm not sure if it's still around or not. There are other systems, too. I ended up switching to disposables. If I were you, I would see an eye doctor at home and ask about Acuvue II or Acuvue Advance bi-weekly disposable lenses. They sell Advance here. Last I checked, they were up to 35,000 won per box (might be more now, due to currency fluxuation).

For years, I used Bausch and Lomb U3 (or maybe it was U4) lenses, which last 1 1/2 years. The problem was that I couldn't seem to get the weekly cleaner tablets, if memory serves. I think that's why I switched to disposables. It was cheaper, at the time, to do it that way.

I didn't use to be able to wear disposable lenses, but Acuvue II worked well for me. Now they sell Acuvue Advance for more money (no more II's here) and they claim they breathe better. If you want my honest opinion, I like the older Acuvue II better because they can be stretched to 3 weeks of wearing without much discomfort. The supposedly "better" Advance models aren't very strong, by comparison. I think they figured out a way to make more money off of us, to be honest.

What I do now is get an eye exam back home and stock up bulk for a year or more while on vacation. The lenses are nearly half the price back home.

I use opti-free solution, by the way, which is the most popular for disposables here.

irishsox28 · Joined: 27 Oct 2008

There are two kinds of disinfectant I can use, one is AO Sept. The other I can't remember hte name of because I don't use it here, but I'm going to go to the store tomorrow and find it, so I can ask you all if it's out there. I'll have to look into Acuvue, but I'm not sure if it can handle my prescription (i'm a -21, to give you a sense of how near-sighted I am). How much do you think it would be to mail say 12-15 bottles through surface post would be?

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

Wow, isn't that legally blind?? I didn't know they could make contacts that powerful. I think Acuvue is probably not making lenses that strong.

You should get surgery!

irishsox28 · Joined: 27 Oct 2008

Haha, yeah. Without contacts or glasses, I can't see anything. But with contacts I see 20/25. So that's why all the questions about contact solution, I'm pretty dependent on them. I can't have surgery yet, but I've been told that in 10-15 years the technology for my kind of eye problems will be advanced enough for me to get surgery. Right now, I'm told it would be a gamble. I'm happy to just wait it out with contacts, no sense risking permanent damage.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

I'll try to do some research and get back to you.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

I found it online here... not sure if it's imported or what:

http://search.auction.co.kr/search/search.aspx?keyword=AOSEPT&itemno=&seller=&frm=hometab&dom=auction&isSuggestion=No

A Korean can help you order from that site.

irishsox28 · Joined: 27 Oct 2008

Wow. Thanks a lot! That's exactly what I'm looking for. What is this web site? Is it widely used in Korea? Two bottles and a disc for 15 dollars would be a pretty good deal. 14,500 is about 15 dollars, right? If I could order that and ship it within Korea, that would be a huge money and timesaver and let me have more room in my luggage.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

Actually, given the exchange rate, it's currently a bit cheaper than that.

Auction.co.kr is a very popular site here. It's like E-bay. There is another site here called www.gmarket.com that was purchased by e-bay last month.

Actually, it appears that some of those listed on there may be vision places, so maybe you can find it at vision stores.

Oh, and I see E-mart sells it, according to the G-market site. E-mart is sort of like K-mart here.

http://www.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=120050063&pos_shop_cd=SH&pos_class_cd=111111111&pos_class_kind=T&keyword_order=aosept&search_keyword=aosept

I'm sure you'll have no troubles getting it, from what I see.