Contact Lenses for Teens
Does your child need to wear glasses, and hates them? There is
another option - teens can wear contact lenses, as well as
adults. Find out what the pros and cons of contact lenses for
teenagers are, and see if contacts could be a solution for your
kid.
Which is better - contact lenses or glasses?
Glasses are easier, of course: all you need to do is to stick
them on your nose. But it is no secret that kids and teens hate
their glasses. Not wearing them will help your child to feel
more attractive and sociable, and raise his or her
self-esteem.
Also, contact lenses have a number of practical advantages. They
provide crisper focal vision and excellent peripheral vision.
Contacts are also better for playing sports and other physical
activities.
What is the minimum age for wearing contact lenses?
Most doctors start prescribing contact lenses for children after
11 years of age, so it might surprise you to learn there is no
minimum age for wearing contacts. Even infants can wear
contacts, provided their parents insert and remove the lenses.
So age isn't really an issue - what is more important is how
responsible your child is. For instance, is he or she ready to
follow a doctor's instructions and care for the lenses properly,
every day?
Surprisingly, studies show that teens are often more responsible
about caring for their contacts than adults. Of course, for the
first few weeks you will have to supervise your daughter or son,
to make sure they follow the doctor's instructions properly.
Are contacts safe for teenagers?
The safety of contact lenses, for teens, concerns many parents.
Don't worry - if the lenses are worn on schedule and properly
cared for, they are absolutely safe. Actually contacts are safer
than glasses - they won't break during a game and cut your
child.
Here is the list of contact lens safety rules:
- Always follow your doctors instructions for cleaning and
storing the lenses
- Wear and replace your lenses on
schedule; try not to wear them from sunrise to midnight
- Never sleep wearing your lenses
- Wear tight goggles
while swimming with contact lenses
- If the lens feels
uncomfortable in your eye, take the lens out
Losing a contact lens behind your eye is an urban legend; this
is impossible, due to the physiology of the human eye. The worst
that can happen is when a soft contact lens folds in half and
hides under your eye lid. In this case, it is recommended to
close your eye and gently massage it through the eye lids from
the edges toward the middle. Eventually the lens will shift and
be removed easily.
Do contact lenses feel comfortable?
Modern contact lenses are designed for comfort. People who wear
high-quality soft contact lenses report that it usually feels
like there is nothing in their eyes at all. If you feel that
your eyes are tired and a bit dry, by the end of the day, then
it is time to take the contacts out. To find out which contact
lenses are the most comfortable see reviews of modern
contact lenses
Of course the moment when you put lenses in causes a bit of
discomfort, and so does the process of removing them. Still, it
doesn't hurt and, with a little bit of practice, most teens can
easily manage inserting and removing the lenses.
Is it difficult to care for contact lenses?
The days when contact lenses required different solutions for
storing, cleaning and protein removing are gone. Now contact
lens care is quite simple. For most soft lenses, all you need is
a multi-purpose solution (for cleaning and storing) and a
contact lens case.
And if you go for daily disposable contact lenses there is no
care at all - just take the lens out of its sterile package and
pop it in. If you don't trust your child to care for his or her
lenses properly, dailies are the perfect solution.
Do contacts cost much more than glasses?
A pair of glasses costs more than a pair of contact lenses, but
since contact lenses have to be replaced more often, their
overall cost is higher. Daily disposable and color contacts are
the most expensive; monthly disposable lenses do not cost as
much. And, of course, the cost of contact lenses varies greatly
from brand to brand.
However, if you know the secrets of buying discount contacts
online, most lenses will cost less than 50 cents per day. I
think you would agree that this is a fair price to pay for
convenience, and to increase your kid's self-esteem.
So do you think that contact lenses can be a solution for your
child? Give contact lenses a try and see if this helps your kid
to feel better about herself of himself.