glasses vs. contacts

[hoey222]

i just went to the eye dr. my Rx has changed a little.

i wear glasses all the time now, but i'm not blind with out them.

they said i could get contacts if i wanted to.

what say you??

are contacts worth it? are glassees cheaper?

thanks

[ray]

I personally don't mind wearing glasses. I'm not playing any sports like I used to in high school, so I never have to worry about getting hit in the face or having the glasses fall off.

Also, glasses make me look older.

[raimin]

also glasses are supposed to make you look smarter.

[poiselle]

I wear glasses since I am in a lab and contacts are a bad idea in labs. I do like the additional peripheral vision that contacts provide. I am thinking about going back and getting some contacts again for sports. I would like to be able to ignore the rain. I don't think contacts are much more expensive, but it depends on what type of glasses and contacts you get.

[Airencracken]

Contacts suck they bothered the crap outa me. Rub your eye and bam it's torn in two.

[blueindian]

i wear both. get 2 week disposable contacts cause the daily ones tear too easily. mine cost me about $200 per year online (twice that much if i got them from my eye doctor). i can leave them in for days at a time, but i usually try to put my glasses on at night.

[avlena]

depends on the person. some people can't handle having something in their eye, or having to poke yourself in the eyt to get a contact in there. wearing contacts doesn't bother me at all, and i wear them 24/7, cuz i get the extended wear ones. I like being able to wake up and see instantly, w/o having to fumble around for glasses. and it's really nice being able to wear sunglasses!

on the con side though, glasses can fix astigmatism, while most contacts don't. so, as a result, my night vision wearing contacts sucks, and everything gets rather fuzzy cuz of the lights. (makes driving real fun!) oh, and if i'm having allergy probs, then the contacts bother me a lot.

in terms of expense, my insurance will cover either glasses or contacts, so i don't notice a price difference at all.

[Airencracken]

Originally posted by avlena
on the con side though, glasses can fix astigmatism, while most contacts don't.

yeah I have an oblique astigmatism in my left eye, and although I got contacts rated for that I noticed my correction wasn't as good. I kinda miss sunglasses and clear perhipheral vision, but I like my transitions.

[caribiner23]

I've spent most of my life in either glasses or contacts.

Glasses are far more convenient, that's for sure.

Contacts can be a bother, especially if you're in a smoky environment or if you have a problem with dry eyes. And also if you spend the entire day staring at a computer screen.

I usually wear my contacts if I'm doing something when I don't want the bother of specs, especially outside stuff (like bike riding, so I get to wear my really cool shades). There are other times when it's nice to not have to reach for the glasses to see, um, things.

When I was in my teen and twenties, I wore contacts (the old "hard" kind) daily; when I hit 30, I started wearing glasses more often just out of convenience.

What it all comes down to is what you're comfortable with.

[tweeteresa]

i've worn contacts for years. the only times it really bothers me is when they get dry and stuck up in my eyeball somewhere. otherwise i dont even feel like i have them on. I have the 2 week disposables (which i actually wear longer than 2 weeks... ) but i also have a pair of glasses for whenever i feel a change. total cost of contacts and glasses for me is about $300 total a year but that's because i don't buy a new $200 frame every year. insurance only pays for the check-up.

[whitak24]

i've worn glasses or contacts since i was about 6.

i hate glasses -- i have been wearing contacts for the last 11 years or so and i MUCH prefer them. i wear the hard (gas permiable) ones -- i got my first pair in 93 and had them until 2001 (you can get them reground if your Rx changes)

disadvantage is that you can't wear them overnight.

[Nija]

i wear glasses, just because they are cheaper than contacts. (my last set of glasses cost $200 and those last almost 4 years) The new ones I got cost $350, and I figure they will last just as long.

[hapoo]

heres my question. I've been wearing contacts for 3 months now. Is there anything wrong with overusing them? I have 2-week contacts and i've used them for a month before with no irritation.

[avlena]

Originally posted by hapoo
heres my question. I've been wearing contacts for 3 months now. Is there anything wrong with overusing them? I have 2-week contacts and i've used them for a month before with no irritation.

i used to do that all the time, until my optomitrist found out and read me the riot act for it. there's a reason that the FDA only approves those contacts for 2 weeks. though, that is likely an overly safe estimate, so you can likely stretch them out to double that, and still be okay. according to my doc, the cleaning solution matters too (he suggested ClearCare or "at the very least, anything but Renu").

i've recently started wearing contacts that you can wear 24/7, including overnight while you're sleeping, and lemme tell you, those are just plain neat! i love 'em!!

[Kim]

Have you ever considered lasik surgery? My husband has his consult this monday. He can't wait to be able to see with out his glasses/contacts.

[Nija]

Originally posted by Kim
Have you ever considered lasik surgery? My husband has his consult this monday. He can't wait to be able to see with out his glasses/contacts.

I've thought about it, but it's like $1000 an eye or something (at least for the ones I hear about, ya know, the good ones )

And well that's a little out of my range, but that sounds like the coolest thing. I mean the first few days I heard sucks, with a brightness senstivity, but after that, it would be the best thing ever. Until then, I have prescription sunglasses

[Kim]

We kind of have to do it. At the 1st of the year we (thinking our daughter's braces would be way expensive) signed up for $2000 in a flex spending account. Come to find out, this round of braces is only $400. If we don't use the other money, we will lose it at the end of the year. So, this is the year for eye surgery. I just hope he is eligible.

[kimchicowboy]

i like wearing glasses because when i'm tired at night, i can just toss them off and hop into bed.

plus, i think i look better with glasses.

[brainsmile]

Don't trust eye surgery as of yet. Long term effects and halo effects scare me.

[faither]

Two years and counting since my Lasik. Couldn't be happier with the results and I wasn't an ideal candidate (large pupils, very near-sighted and strong astigmatism). I stongly believe that your likelihood of a happy outcome has less to do with your actual prescription than it does the skill of your surgeon. The best doctors makes a world of difference.

[caribiner23]

I looked into Lasik a couple years ago. My ophthalmologist is one of the guys who started one of the larger Lasik practices here in Chicago.

He recommended against my getting the surgery because of my prescription and the thinness of my cornea. He said that other clinics would do it because I was within the "acceptable tolerances" but he wouldn't. That was good enough advice for me.

Like DF, I go for the cooler looking glasses.

I recently read about a new procedure where they actually implant a contact lens in your eye. Supposedly, the FDA approved it recently.

Linkage.

[yippiekiyeh]

I have both, but nowadays I just wear the contacts when I'm playing sports. For the majority of the time, I use my glasses.

My job requires me to stare at computer screens for a few hours a day and with contacts it definitely dried out my eyes. With my glasses I don't ever notice the dry eye syndrome.

As for Lasik and the waveform Lasik, I've looked into it and it's an exciting concept, I'd definitely would want to check it out and make sure I'm a possible candidate, since my eye prescription hasn't really changed in 4+ years. It actually got better by a .25 of a degree! I also know quite a few people that have had it done and they recommend it wholly. The only thing I have to worry about is those tan lines where my sideburns are!

[Jcranmer]

Originally posted by Kim
Have you ever considered lasik surgery? My husband has his consult this monday. He can't wait to be able to see with out his glasses/contacts.

Wow too cool! My consult is this Tuesday. I hope there is something they can do for me, 25+ years of glasses just sucks.

[LPMiller]

My problem with Lasik is it is a radical temporary solution to a permanent problem.

[Thesifer]

I wear glasses.. they make me look older.. lol.. And I hate contacts.. and no matter what type I get.. I cant sleep in them.. my eyes basically "glue" shut..

[Cheesypuff]

I wear both glasses and contacts.

I could care less which one I wear...pretty much which ever I see first in the morning is the one I pick

my only dislike for contacts is that you never say "oh crap, I lost my GLASSES in the back of my eye"

but you also don't have your glasses fog up during hot dayz

[oblongmelon]

Originally posted by hapoo
heres my question. I've been wearing contacts for 3 months now. Is there anything wrong with overusing them? I have 2-week contacts and i've used them for a month before with no irritation.

It depends on who you ask. For awhile-I only had to wear ONE lens because of my astigmatism = and I was charged over 250 dollars for a torric lens (which at the time I got them was a "new" item for astigmatic lens wearers. I was told it was a "permanant" type lens and not a disposable. A year later when I went to a different doctor to be checked-he said "why are you only wearing one lens?" - Needless to say-I ordered the new LENSes (6 pair of disposables)(I needed them for both eyes now)..and guess what-THE TORRIC LENS was the exact same lens as the one I had worn for one year-no change in prescription-and the exact same maker-I questioned the doctor as to why the original lens was not considered disposable but the new one was-and his reply was..It depends on who you ask and it depends on how you clean them..Once a week I'd soak them in solution with protein removal tablets..they work great..

Originally posted by Kim
We kind of have to do it. At the 1st of the year we (thinking our daughter's braces would be way expensive) signed up for $2000 in a flex spending account. Come to find out, this round of braces is only $400. If we don't use the other money, we will lose it at the end of the year. So, this is the year for eye surgery. I just hope he is eligible.

wow-sounds like you are getting off cheap with the braces! I had two kids both starting out with Herpst appliances for a year-then followed by braces for two years-then retainers...It cost thousands..but well worth it in the end.

[dRu168]

use both! like me!

[revil]

My vision is kinda bad, which makes the contacts bigger. i wore my contacts for a while... then went back to the eye doctor and he told me, "if you wear your contacts for more than a few hours at a time, the blood vessels in your eye will never go away." so pretty much, if i keep wearing my contacts, it'll look like i have pink eye 24/7.

[YanksFanRy]

I don't have a problem at all wearing glasses, and I just don't like the idea of putting things in my eyes. As soon as I can afford and am ready for LASIX surgery or whatever it's called, I'm there.