Can you buy prescription glasses for sports ...

[Meltinthemiddle]

Ds is 13 and I don't really want him wearing contacts if I'm honest. But he plays alot of football and he's really struggling with his vision. Can he wear special glasses? Any recommendations would be great hoping it won't be too pricey 😬

Spec savers can order in special sports glasses - my Ds’ are allowed to wear them for rugby. Around £90

Why don’t you want him wearing contacts? It’s the obvious solution. Glasses and contact sports aren’t a great idea.

www.spex4less.com/sports-glasses

www.uksportseyewear.co.uk/

Even prescription swimming goggles
www.sportseyeweardirect.co.uk/Prescription-Sports-Eyewear/

I believe so, but what's the issue with contacts? I struggled with glasses in my early teens but getting contacts at 14 was literally life changing, particularly for sport. And that was 30 years ago when they were a PITA. So much easier now, I would recommend them to anyone.

Contact lenses are being recommended for children now. We’ve got a consultation later in the week for DS (11) and DD (8) to both try them. They both do a lot of sport and I’m hoping contacts will be cheaper than buying prescription swimming goggles and special football glasses. No idea if either of them will be able to put them in though, we’ll see!

Having a teenage boy just worries me about the hygiene side of things. It's bad enough getting him to brush his teeth!

Re contact lenses, if you go for daily disposables then the only real hygiene consideration is ensuring that hands are washed before they go in! He doesn't need to wear them full time- could just pop a pair in for sport.

Honestly, special glasses will be useless the moment he has to play in bad weather. I would go with daily contact lenses.

@Mull they can’t swim in contact lenses

Although exposure to any type of water isn't advised for contact lenses, swimming while wearing your contacts can be particularly dangerous due to the prolonged exposure. The lenses can absorb the water, trapping potential bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens against your eye

@Mull

Contact lenses are being recommended for children now. We’ve got a consultation later in the week for DS (11) and DD (8) to both try them. They both do a lot of sport and I’m hoping contacts will be cheaper than buying prescription swimming goggles and special football glasses. No idea if either of them will be able to put them in though, we’ll see!

It's highly inadvisable to wear contact lenses for swimming.

I got my first contact lenses at 16 - in the days before soft lenses existed, so they were rigid gas permeables that had to be cleaned every day. They were marvellous despite the hassle.

I prefer specs these days as they hide my eye-bags better, but if I was a teenager again I would jump at daily disposables.

As pp said, the hygiene requirements are minimal for dailies - just wash your hands (making sure to rinse off soap) before putting in or taking out.

Thank you I will book an appointment and see how he gets on

I would also say have a look at dailies. I was a bit older than him when I first tried them, about 16 perhaps, but they were a game changer. I would stick to using them only when doing sport to help cut down the hygiene issue, but really with dailies you just need clean hands and a clean surface. I did move to monthlies when I was at uni, but actually I still used dailies even then!

I had my eyes lasered at about 25 which was marvellous but I think I’m going to need to head back to glasses again soon. I don’t think I would wear contacts again now, and not sure it would work after lasik anyway, but if I were to consider it it would be good old dailies again for me!