I'm on the fence. I love contacts, I just don't like taking the time for them. So as a compromise, I have both. I wear my contacts when I have time to deal with cleaning and putting them in. But mostly, I wear my glasses...which I hate.
I wore glasses since I was a little kid and got my first pair of contacts about a year ago. I wore them for about a week but they kept drying out my eyes, shifting around, and all kinds of stuff so I went back to my glasses. Then about three months ago, I got into a car accident and my glasses were destroyed. I had no money for new glasses (I have a special prescription that adds on about an extra $75 to glasses I buy) and I still have a box of contact lenses left so I had no choice but to wear them. So glad I did. It took about a week for my eyes to get used to the contacts and now I love them! I carry around a bottle of artificial tears but I usually only need to use them when I'm tired or I've had my lenses in for 12+ hours. Like another member has stated, I've gotten so many compliments since I stopped wearing my glasses. People I don't even know are complimenting me. The only downfall that I have is that I have to wait till RIGHT before I go to sleep to take the contacts out since I'm basically blind which is why I'm going to get another pair of glasses to wear when I get home so I can just slip them off when I'm ready to fall asleep.
I'm the lover of glasses, even though I would prefer to do the Lasik surgery. However, I just don't have the money for it, and my insurance will not cover it. I have tried contacts, but even though you're supposed to be able to wear them for hours at a time, my eyes literally got "exhausted" after a few hours. Finally, I just gave up on it because I have long fingernails at time, and it was a major pain trying to get my contacts in and out.
For those who had trouble with contacts years ago, they just keep improving them-so keep on trying! The regular Acuvue I was using 6 years ago, for instance, has been replaced with a thinner, more breathable material-and they are even more comfortable!
Also, if one brand doesn't work really well for you, ask your doctor about another-if the problem is the fit, or the breathability, or dry eyes-tell them! Different lenses/brands seem to work better for different people, and your doctor can only find the ones that work best for you, if you tell them what you are experiencing!
I am another Coke bottle glasses wearer, -9.00 in one eye, and -11.50 in the other. I don't wear my glasses ANYWHERE but during a surgical procedure, and the contacts go on before anything else!
I couldn't live without them-not to mention getting to wear sunglasses, to not have the marks on my nose and ears from ill fitting glasses that always hurt no matter how much I adjusted them...and the fact that I never looked good in "cute" frames, because my prescription was way too bad.
Contacts-all the way! Putting them in and taking them out, and cleaning, etc. takes me about 4 minutes a day...and you get used to the feeling of putting them in and taking them out after about 3 times doing it-then it isn't a big deal at all.
LOVVVE my contacts. I can't stand when i have to wear my glasses. I do have to wear aspherical contacts due to both eyes that have astimatisms...so they are a bit more expesive. I don't mind the inconvience of taking them out at night...and mine are disposed every 2 weeks. I wish i had the extra cash for lasix...but until then...contacts all the way.
I wear both contacts and glasses (not at the same time LOL ). I just recently got one-day use contacts to wear when I exercise and overall, I'm pretty happy with them. They are absolutely fantastic for exercise. It is such a relief not to have to be constantly pushing my glasses up on my nose or taking them off to wipe the sweat off my face. When I'm outside, my contacts don't steam up or frost over the way my glasses would. Also, they protect my eye better than my glasses do. When I run with my glasses on, my eyes water contstantly (literally, tears streaming down my fact) from the wind hitting them. With contacts in, no tearing at all. The contact lense seems to protect my eye from the wind much better than the glasses do.
My distance vision is also better with my contacts in. I'm surprised by how crisp and clear things are. My optometrist said that the contacts are a more natural way of seeing than glasses. They are correcting my vision to 20 x 15; it's pretty amazing.
Contacts are also great for watching TV. I like to lay on the sofa and when I wear my glasses, they push into the side of my head. Not a problem with contacts!
The biggest downside is that the contacts are definitely a little hard to get in and out. The single-use contacts are super thin and flimsy. I have no problem at all sticking my finger in my eye, but I still have to allow at least 10 to 15 min to get them in. At least once or twice a week, I tear one trying to put it in and have to get a new one (making them even more expensive than I originally thought). A couple times I've managed to lose one while trying to put in my eye. Sometimes I get the contact in but it isn't in the right position so I can't see out of that eye. Once I managed to put two contacts in the same eye because the first one didn't slide into position correctly and I thought it had fallen out. Once, one contact did fall out when I got to the gym and I had to do my workout with one contact in (since then, I always bring spares with me to the gym). Several times I've had one tear in my eye, once in the middle of my elliptical workout. Right now, in fact, I think I have a little piece of contact stuck in my left eye. I can feel it but I can't see it so I'm just waiting for it to work its way out on its own. I've only had my contacts since the end of February so I'm sure I will get to be much better at putting them in over time, but you have to expect a learning curve when you first get them.
Also, I can only wear my contacts for a maximum of 4 to 6 hours. After that, my eyes get too dried out and no amount of eye drops help; the contacts just need to come out. I've learned that when I'm wearing my contacts, I need to always have spares on hand and also always have a pair of back-up glasses.
I also only need corrective lenses for distance. For things within reading distance, it is easier for me to focus if I'm not wearing glasses or contacts. From that standpoint, glasses are better because I can easily take them on and off (and then spend half my life looking for them ). Once the contacts are in, they have to stay in until I'm ready to take them out for the day. If I'm doing a lot of reading or using the computer, my eyes have to work a lot harder with the contacts in and it tires them out.
I also think of my glasses as an accessory, like jewelry (obviously I don't have coke-bottle lenses). Contacts, not nearly so much fun in that regard. And I'm convinced that glasses make me look smarter.
Right now, if I absolutely had to pick one or the other, I'd have to go with glasses because I can't keep my contacts in all day. But if I could keep my contact in all day, I'd probably go with contacts for the convenience and because my vision is better with them. Luckily, I don't have to make that choice.
I've needed glasses all my life and got my first contacts in 9th grade. Back then hard lenses were the only ones available. I wore them for ten years, then my eyes got uncomfortable wearing them. I went to gas-permeable lenses which felt great, BUT I just couldn't keep them clean! I must have had a reaction to the plastic in those particular lenses. I finally gave up and went back to glasses for about ten more years. At my eye appointment about 13 years ago, the girl who was assisting me prior to my eye exam asked if I wanted to try contacts. I explained that I already had had contacts. She said, "Have you tried disposable ones?" I said that I hadn't. She explained that they could do some additional measurements which would provide information for the fitting of contact lenses. She also said that I would have a trial pair that would cost nothing and I could try them out and see how I liked them. I thought it sounded like a good deal.
Since I was already a previous contact lens wearer, I wasn't nervous. I WAS a bit skeptical, however. They did the extra tests, I met with Doc, and then the girl inserted the lenses. My eyes felt better WITH the lenses in than without them! I could hardly feel them! What a difference from my hard lenses and/or my gas-permeable ones from many years before!!!!
I was able to wear them four hours ON THAT FIRST DAY!!! I was SOLD!!!
I've now been wearing disposable lenses all day and into the evening. I switch to my glasses late at night because I need to remove my eye makeup then before bed. I have never had any eye infections because I am VERY careful about cleaning them and putting them safely away. I can wear one pair for two weeks, then I toss them and open a new pair. Easy!
My very best contact lens moment...Wearing them on waterslides AND, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE. being able to actually SEE WHERE I AM GOING as I make my way down the slides!!! (Shut eyes tightly before you hit the water at the end and you won't wash your lenses out into the pool of water at the end of the slide!)
WOW, thank you everyone for all of your great advice and tips! I keep debating back and forth if I should get them, but they did say I would get a 2 week trial pair to see how I do with them. The one thing I was concerned with them was that I only need correctiveness for a distance, I have 20/20 up close and sometimes I look under my glasses or take them off to see better. I've always wondered how they can make contacts work for both. I live in Oregon and we do get a lot of rain and the one thing I hate with glasses is always getting the rain on my lens.
Contacts will correct your far vision and not affect your close vision. As your eyes change, and everyone's seems to, they can fit you with lenses that will correct far AND near vision. I'm still using the "monovision" method of having my right eye corrected for far vision and my left eye corrected for near vision. It's a cheaper way of handling my eyes that are losing that middle ground of vision about a foot or so away from the eyes. It sounds weird, but after a few hours I really didn't notice that one eye was helping me to see far and the other was helping me to see near! I can tell that soon I will need to go to the bifocal contacts (more expensive), but I'm holding out as long as I can on those.
Oh, and I see better and clearer with my contacts than I do with the same prescription in my glasses. It has something to do with the lenses being right on your eyeball.
Squeeky-clean hands and lint-free paper towels to dry your hands before inserting your lenses works best. Bath towels have pieces of lint that can (and WILL!) adhere to your hands and end up UNDER your lenses...OUCH!!!!
Good Luck! I think you will be very pleased with contacts!
Michelle-they make lenses for nearsightedness, and farsightedness, just like they do for glasses. If you look on the box when you get your trial pair, if the prescription strength starts with a -, then they are to correct nearsightedness, and if they start with a +, they are for farsightedness. My prescription as I said, is very bad, and I can see 50X better with contacts than I can with glasses. My glasses distort everything in my peripheral vision, and I can't examine something up close without taking them off. The contacts are great for that.
I have both and like both. I love my glasses, they are new and I think they are fab, however I also love sunglasses so I prefer to wear my contacts when I go out. Also I wear disposable contacts, which aren't recommended for daily use so I wear my glasses on days when I mostly stay home
One thing I noticed before I had lasik was that with glasses, things seemed somehow DARKER. Like Aphil, my peripheral vision was poor (glasses only corrected the field of vision that they covered) and the thickness of them seemed to make things darker. Contact lenses were a GODSEND - things were brighter, clearer, and all around better. If I had to choose between lenses and contacts, contacts win every time. I wore contacts consistently (but never overnight!) for 20 years (I have been in glasses since the age of 3), and with PROPER CARE are a great solution.
There are "bifocal" contacts, where the field of vision is different within the lens. These lenses are actually weighted so that they stay in the correct position, and are called TAURIC lenses. Still a great choice!!!
Go for it!
I wore contacts consistently (but never overnight!) for 20 years (I have been in glasses since the age of 3), and with PROPER CARE are a great solution.
I LOVE being able to wear my contacts overnight. I'm not saying everyone should do it--I know some people have issues when even accidentally falling asleep on the couch or something with contacts in--but if your eyes can handle it, it's not the taboo it used to be
My optometrist (multiple, actually, since I've moved around a lot in recent years) knows that I sleep with my lenses in and said it's fine because my eyes are healthy--I would stop at the first sign of anything going wrong. They do make lenses now that you can wear for 30 days without ever taking them out (I believe they are a gas-permeable plastic lense), and when I asked about this, my doctor actually said he'd rather see me in regular disposable lenses and just replace them every 2 weeks, that dehydration was not as much of an issue as the potential bacteria build-up on the lenses approved for 30-day/night wear.
Contacts are amazing for me. I got them about 3 months ago for the first time and I love them.
I always hated my glasses and wore them as little as possible (my vision isn't that bad, -1 in one eye and -1.25 in the other.) So most of the time I was walking around with crappy vision and the rest of the time I spent looking for my glasses. It takes me about 10 minutes or less a day to take care of my contacts (I have the kind that you throw away after 2 weeks.) It has been such a positive change, I would definitely recommend at least TRYING contacts if you haven't had them before.
The only downfall that I have is that I have to wait till RIGHT before I go to sleep to take the contacts out since I'm basically blind which is why I'm going to get another pair of glasses to wear when I get home so I can just slip them off when I'm ready to fall asleep.
). Once the contacts are in, they have to stay in until I'm ready to take them out for the day. If I'm doing a lot of reading or using the computer, my eyes have to work a lot harder with the contacts in and it tires them out.
