Are Contact Lenses for You
October 20, 2022
Is Your Apprehension Warranted?
It’s a pretty wonderful thing to live in an age where we have so many options with our vision care. The two most common forms of corrective vision care are, of course, glasses and contact lenses. Nearly all contact lens users have a pair of corrective glasses to use when their contacts are unavailable, but many wearers of glasses may feel apprehensive about the prospect of switching to contacts, asking themselves, “Should I get contact lenses?”
This is of course a question that is going to have a different answer for different people, so let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages that contact lenses present so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not they are right for you.
Advantages of Contact Lenses
- Contacts are virtually invisible to outside observers. There are a lot of people out there who are perfectly happy with how they look in glasses, but there are many who just aren’t into it. Contact lenses don’t cover your face like glasses do, so they allow you a more natural look to the outside world. It’s a great option for people who are trying to change up their look and style without sacrificing vision correction.
- They allow a wider field of vision. Glasses sit on the front of your face, so they only provide vision correction if your eyes are pointed in the same direction as your head. Contacts, on the other hand, sit directly on top of your eyeballs, so they correct your vision anywhere you move your eyes and correct your peripheral vision as well.
- Contacts let you be more active. We love glasses, but anyone can tell you that trying to go for a jog, or play hoops in glasses is a disaster waiting to happen. Even with fastening bands or prescription sports glasses, you’ll have the unpleasant sensation of having your glasses bounce up and down on the bridge of your nose or become dislodged during exercise. Contacts account for these unpleasant experiences by staying in place and allowing you to run, jump, and skip to your heart’s content.
- Contacts let you ditch the glasses. Ultimately, this benefit is why contacts were invented. Losing the glasses can make you look better, clear up your skin in the t-zone (if that’s a problem for you), and leave your face feeling unencumbered.
Disadvantages of Contact Lenses
- They Require More Discipline. With glasses, your daily cleaning routine is fairly simple. Contact lenses are quite the opposite. They must be removed regularly, washed, and sanitized in order to avoid potentially serious health complications such as bacterial infections. Many people choose to circumvent these hygienic routines by using daily contact lenses, which produce their own set of confounding variables in that disposable contacts can be expensive, especially compared to standard reusable contacts and prescription glasses.
- Contacts carry the risk of bacterial infection and other complications. If proper handling and sanitization practices are followed, contacts are perfectly safe to use daily. However, most people aren’t so fastidious. According to the CDC, about 99% of people surveyed reported at least one behavior with their contact lenses that are associated with an elevated risk of injury or infection. This is, of course, not to say that 99% of contact lens wearers experience serious complications, but rather to illustrate the fact that the vast preponderance of people out there are unable to adhere to the aforementioned required discipline.
- Not so much a disadvantage of contacts, but maybe a reduced advantage: Modern glasses are pretty cool. Some people dig how they look in glasses. Durable, stylish, comfortable frames, and ultra-thin, low-glare lenses make glasses of today as much better than their forebearers as today’s contact lenses are. And glasses have always offered better eye protection than contact lenses.
Early contact lenses had a lot more disadvantages than modern, soft, air-permeable contacts. Modern contacts are comparatively a breeze to wear. There are many more advantages available, too, like bifocal and colored contacts.
Ultimately, the decision to wear contact lenses is up to you. They provide great opportunities for people to gain more autonomy over their personal appearance and allow folks who have vision problems to lead healthy, active lives more comfortably with more natural vision. That being said, they present greater health risks than glasses and should be treated with an elevated awareness of cleanliness.
If you’re still having trouble deciding whether or not contacts are right for you, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re happy to walk you through the decision step-by-step and find the solution that works best for you!
Healthy Food, Healthy Eyes It should be of no surprise to anyone when we say that your diet is extremely important to your overall health and wellbeing—including the health of your eyes. Though managing a healthy diet can seem difficult at times, the good news is that there are various types of food that can help support eye health. Let’s take a look at six foods that are not only great for your vision, but also delicious and nutritious!
The Spring Doesn't Just Bring Beautiful Weather Is there anything worse than allergy season? You’ve just survived another winter and the doldrums that accompany it, and just as soon as the weather gets nice enough to enjoy, mother nature deploys clouds of pollen and your immune system goes haywire. Allergy season is miserable, especially for those who suffer from eye allergies. Eye allergies, also known as allergic conjunctivitis, can cause symptoms such as itching, redness, and tearing, which can be frustrating and uncomfortable. We’ve got your back. While springtime might have your eyes redder than a clown’s nose, there are fortunately several steps that you can take to mitigate pollen’s assault. Let’s take a look at seven tips from the pros for taking care of your eyes during allergy season.
You Don't Have to Put Up With the Fog Ask any glasses wearer about the inconvenience of fogged-up lenses in the winter, and they'll rattle off a laundry list of complaints, ranging from the minor inconveniences of walking into a warm cafe on a cold day to the more dangerous hazards of fogged-out glasses while driving. Glasses can easily fog up in the winter due to the temperature difference between the warm air inside and the cold air outside. This can be particularly annoying for people who rely on glasses for their daily activities. It’s a headache, to be sure; however, there are several ways to prevent or reduce fogging during the long winter months. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can overcome this seasonal grievance and live a fog-free life.
Pay Attention to What Your Eyes are Telling You Disease of the eyes can affect anyone, young or old. As vision is one of your most valuable assets, it’s essential to stay well informed. Eye disease can often have no visible signs, so it’s important to identify the symptoms and seek medical advice from an optometrist if you experience any of them. Here are ten common symptoms that may indicate a potential eye condition: 1. Blurred vision Blurred vision or a sudden change in vision can be a sign of an underlying eye problem. While many people’s vision may worsen naturally, it’s important to see an eye doctor to be certain it isn’t a symptom of eye disease. 2. Flashes or floaters These are small spots, specks, lines, or cloud shapes that appear in your vision. Flashes or floaters may be caused by retinal detachment, vitreous detachment, inflammation inside your eyes, or other problems with the vitreous humor, the gel-like substance found inside your eyes.
Don't Neglect Your Vision We live in a busy world, so it’s only natural that some things will fall by the wayside. One thing that is neglected too often is getting a regularly scheduled eye exam. Hey, we get it. These things can be easy to put off until they’ve left your mind completely, especially if you believe you have perfect vision. However, eye disease and vision impairment are serious conditions that are best treated if they are caught as early as possible. So that being said, how do you know if you should see an eye doctor? In order to help you answer that question, we’ve compiled a list of signs that you should have your eyes examined as soon as possible.
It Might Be Time to Move On So you’ve got these glasses that you’ve had forever. You don’t love them, but you don’t hate them either. You can see alright, but maybe it seems like that myopia might be slowly creeping back into your field of vision. They’re in pretty good shape, but there’s one or two blotches on them that just don’t seem to buff despite your best efforts. In short, you’re in a strange limbo where you feel like it might be time for a new pair, but you’re just not sure. Luckily we’re here to make it a little easier for you. Here are our top five signs that you need new glasses.
Your Glasses Shouldn't Effect Your Workout We’ve all been there before: You’re trying to get a sweat in, but you forgot your contact lenses and now your glasses are flopping all around on your nose like a flag in a hurricane. You can’t enjoy your workout because your only options are to risk breaking an expensive prescription or jog blindly down the road and risk breaking way more. It’s a miserable experience that usually ends in cutting your workout short and heading home dejected. It doesn’t have to be that way though! Whether you’re a hobby cyclist, a marathon runner, a consummate gym rat, or play basketball with your friends on the weekend, glasses don’t have to interfere with your workout routine. Here are a few tips that will make sure you never have to skip a workout because of precariously placed eyeglasses again.
Improve Your Health Regular eye exams should be a part of everyone’s healthcare routine, and not just to protect your vision. While it’s true that checkups from your optometrist can catch the early signs of eye diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, eye exams are remarkably effective at detecting so much more. Many of these diseases can be life-threatening, so early detection and treatment is vital. Let’s take a look at five diseases and health conditions that may be detected during your routine eye exam.
Finding New Frames Doesn't Need to be a Hassle We’ve all been there before. You’ve got a new prescription or maybe you’re replacing your old pair of glasses and suddenly you are confronted with a wall of frames and you suddenly have to decide what your face is going to look like with your glasses for the next couple of years. It’s daunting and exhausting and the last thing you want is to make the wrong decision. Don’t you worry, we’re here with you to help you choose a pair of frames that you’re going to love. We’ve compiled a list of five factors that you should consider when picking your new frames that will make the task feel less herculean.
Anxiety is Normal Going for a trip to the doctor of any type can be a really stressful experience for kids. They have to break from their normal routine, travel to an unfamiliar place, interact with unfamiliar people, and might find what goes on quite unpleasant. It’s completely normal, but it can put parents in the difficult position of putting their children through something they don’t want to do and might feel great apprehension about. Many parents might feel at a loss for what to do, so we’ve compiled a list of advice for parents whose children are feeling anxious about their eye exam.
Healthy Food, Healthy Eyes It should be of no surprise to anyone when we say that your diet is extremely important to your overall health and wellbeing—including the health of your eyes. Though managing a healthy diet can seem difficult at times, the good news is that there are various types of food that can help support eye health. Let’s take a look at six foods that are not only great for your vision, but also delicious and nutritious!
The Spring Doesn't Just Bring Beautiful Weather Is there anything worse than allergy season? You’ve just survived another winter and the doldrums that accompany it, and just as soon as the weather gets nice enough to enjoy, mother nature deploys clouds of pollen and your immune system goes haywire. Allergy season is miserable, especially for those who suffer from eye allergies. Eye allergies, also known as allergic conjunctivitis, can cause symptoms such as itching, redness, and tearing, which can be frustrating and uncomfortable. We’ve got your back. While springtime might have your eyes redder than a clown’s nose, there are fortunately several steps that you can take to mitigate pollen’s assault. Let’s take a look at seven tips from the pros for taking care of your eyes during allergy season.
You Don't Have to Put Up With the Fog Ask any glasses wearer about the inconvenience of fogged-up lenses in the winter, and they'll rattle off a laundry list of complaints, ranging from the minor inconveniences of walking into a warm cafe on a cold day to the more dangerous hazards of fogged-out glasses while driving. Glasses can easily fog up in the winter due to the temperature difference between the warm air inside and the cold air outside. This can be particularly annoying for people who rely on glasses for their daily activities. It’s a headache, to be sure; however, there are several ways to prevent or reduce fogging during the long winter months. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can overcome this seasonal grievance and live a fog-free life.
Pay Attention to What Your Eyes are Telling You Disease of the eyes can affect anyone, young or old. As vision is one of your most valuable assets, it’s essential to stay well informed. Eye disease can often have no visible signs, so it’s important to identify the symptoms and seek medical advice from an optometrist if you experience any of them. Here are ten common symptoms that may indicate a potential eye condition: 1. Blurred vision Blurred vision or a sudden change in vision can be a sign of an underlying eye problem. While many people’s vision may worsen naturally, it’s important to see an eye doctor to be certain it isn’t a symptom of eye disease. 2. Flashes or floaters These are small spots, specks, lines, or cloud shapes that appear in your vision. Flashes or floaters may be caused by retinal detachment, vitreous detachment, inflammation inside your eyes, or other problems with the vitreous humor, the gel-like substance found inside your eyes.
Don't Neglect Your Vision We live in a busy world, so it’s only natural that some things will fall by the wayside. One thing that is neglected too often is getting a regularly scheduled eye exam. Hey, we get it. These things can be easy to put off until they’ve left your mind completely, especially if you believe you have perfect vision. However, eye disease and vision impairment are serious conditions that are best treated if they are caught as early as possible. So that being said, how do you know if you should see an eye doctor? In order to help you answer that question, we’ve compiled a list of signs that you should have your eyes examined as soon as possible.
It Might Be Time to Move On So you’ve got these glasses that you’ve had forever. You don’t love them, but you don’t hate them either. You can see alright, but maybe it seems like that myopia might be slowly creeping back into your field of vision. They’re in pretty good shape, but there’s one or two blotches on them that just don’t seem to buff despite your best efforts. In short, you’re in a strange limbo where you feel like it might be time for a new pair, but you’re just not sure. Luckily we’re here to make it a little easier for you. Here are our top five signs that you need new glasses.
Your Glasses Shouldn't Effect Your Workout We’ve all been there before: You’re trying to get a sweat in, but you forgot your contact lenses and now your glasses are flopping all around on your nose like a flag in a hurricane. You can’t enjoy your workout because your only options are to risk breaking an expensive prescription or jog blindly down the road and risk breaking way more. It’s a miserable experience that usually ends in cutting your workout short and heading home dejected. It doesn’t have to be that way though! Whether you’re a hobby cyclist, a marathon runner, a consummate gym rat, or play basketball with your friends on the weekend, glasses don’t have to interfere with your workout routine. Here are a few tips that will make sure you never have to skip a workout because of precariously placed eyeglasses again.
Improve Your Health Regular eye exams should be a part of everyone’s healthcare routine, and not just to protect your vision. While it’s true that checkups from your optometrist can catch the early signs of eye diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, eye exams are remarkably effective at detecting so much more. Many of these diseases can be life-threatening, so early detection and treatment is vital. Let’s take a look at five diseases and health conditions that may be detected during your routine eye exam.
Finding New Frames Doesn't Need to be a Hassle We’ve all been there before. You’ve got a new prescription or maybe you’re replacing your old pair of glasses and suddenly you are confronted with a wall of frames and you suddenly have to decide what your face is going to look like with your glasses for the next couple of years. It’s daunting and exhausting and the last thing you want is to make the wrong decision. Don’t you worry, we’re here with you to help you choose a pair of frames that you’re going to love. We’ve compiled a list of five factors that you should consider when picking your new frames that will make the task feel less herculean.
Anxiety is Normal Going for a trip to the doctor of any type can be a really stressful experience for kids. They have to break from their normal routine, travel to an unfamiliar place, interact with unfamiliar people, and might find what goes on quite unpleasant. It’s completely normal, but it can put parents in the difficult position of putting their children through something they don’t want to do and might feel great apprehension about. Many parents might feel at a loss for what to do, so we’ve compiled a list of advice for parents whose children are feeling anxious about their eye exam.
