Can some explain contact lenses to me?

[Spaghettio]

I've recently become a full time glasses wearer after only needing them for reading previously. My teenage DS is also a full time glasses wearer and has been since he was 6 years old.

He REALLY wants contacts now that he's a teen and he spent most of the summer holidays just not wearing his glasses.

I have no idea how they actually work though.

People talk about daily or monthly lenses. Does that mean a new pair of lenses every day, or you wear them for 30 days (and nights?) and then throw them away?

Is there a downside to them versus wearing glasses instead?

Do you have to poke yourself in the eye? 👁 (I can't bear the thought of this, but DS seems happy with the idea!)

Do I get them from our normal optician? Or is it better to get them online? Does he need another eye check, or can I go to the opticians and ask for them?

I feel quite stupid about this, now that I've put all those questions down....

I have extended wear lenses: they go in at the start of the month and come out three weeks later. I then have a week of glasses, and start again after that. I pay £25 a month and they have changed my life.

Daily ones for teens. My DS15 has been wearing them for 2 years, loves them. Much better for sports. Just talk to your optician

Ive been wearing contacts for over 30 years, the technology has evolved so much - they are amazing now

Optician here:
what’s your son’s prescription!?

I had no idea that you could get gas permeable a online until I spent a very annoying 20 minutes trying to work out why Mr X’s were binding - basically sucking - onto his eyeball. Until he told me that he got them online. Even more so with rgps you can’t swap between brands - it often doesn’t work with soft lenses either. Lots of things are different - the BOZD so optic size/thickness/edge left/aspericity of the skirt.

OP as long as you realise that you’re putting something into your eye and that gives you an increased risk of infection if you don’t look after them. The risks with extended wear (the ones you sleep is) about 10 x that of daily wear.
I wear contacts and so does my 16 year old - although I’ve fitted them to children as young as 7 successfully. But it does depend on them. My daughter has a high prescription but also has ADHD and wouldn’t manage them.

it’s really important that you don’t get them anywhere near tap water and you take them out as soon as you notice that your eye is red and seek professional help.

Not read whole thread but will add that I’ve worn them since age 14 and now in my 40s. I love them.
I have fortnightly ones which may be a good compromise. Every time I’ve tried dailies they’ve been too dry for my eyes, but things may have changed.
mine are from Boots, I recommend them, I pay £24 a month and you get free eye tests and contact lens check, discount off glasses and this isn’t really advertised but you get 10% off all boots own brand products if you use your advantage card - that can really add up to a big discount especially if like me you buy their brand medicines, vitamins, skin care etc.

I agree with others, they are life changing. I have been very short sighted since the age of 6 and they changed my life when I got them as a teen.

@Sooveritallnow That sounds like a good deal. Can I ask who you get them from?

I had perfect vision most of my life but now it's deteriorating with age. I started using reading glasses after years ago and now also have distance glasses.

Is it possible to get contacts that correct both ends, or would I have to pick one for the contact lenses to correct (probably long) and wear glasses over the contacts for the other?

(Apologies if this is a stupid question..having come to glasses late in life I don't know much about the world of optical correction)

@OooPourUsACupLove. it's not a stupid question at all. I had varifocal contact lenses. I didn't like them but they might work better with larger soft contact lenses.
But my sister wears one contact lens for distance and one for reading. She finds it works really well for her. It was her opticians suggestion and she has quite a few clients who do it.

I wear the extended wear ones, I swapped to those when I had young children and also worked nights, I was awake for too long for regular lenses. I’ve worn lenses for 25 years and the extended wear for about 16 years, I’ve never had any problems. My dd also wears contacts, she started with dailies occasionally when she was about 10, moved onto monthlies a couple of years later and to the extended wear when she went to uni, it’s handy for clubbing and drunkenness apparently. I pay £15 a month each which includes eye tests and check ups. I hate wearing glasses, no issues with steam, rain or dirty fingerprints on contact lenses and I can see properly when I reverse.

I’ve got the one of each like @MarshaMelrose sister, seems to work, it’s only been since my last eye test though, I didn’t need the reading bit before that so I don’t know how it’ll change.

@underneaththeash I'd thought about moving to soft contact lenses that you can sleep in but a 10x increased risk of infection is huge. Is there any way to minimise that? Or is it just how each individuals eyes react?

I've been wearing gas permeable lenses since the mid 1970s. I wear them every day.

As I've become older I've had one lens configured for short sight (distance) and one for long sight (close up). Your brain adjusts and chooses the best eye to use depending on what you are doing at the time.

In other words, I don't need reading glasses.

I love my contact lenses.

I used soft lenses from about age 13 and moved to daily disposables when they came out. 20 years or so of contact lens wearing without incident. Minus 6.5 in both eyes.

Had laser surgery ten years ago, I forget sometimes that I ever needed glasses or lenses. It's fantastic. Waking up in the morning and being able to see straight away was such a novelty! I think will be standard by the time your son is an adult (you have to wait till your prescription is stable before having it done). .

@DatingIsDifficult It isn't anymore and hasn't been for over 15 years.

I started with gas permeable and then changed to soft as the technology improved. I use to get things under a gas permeable lens on windy days, there as never had that problem with soft.

Anyway a few years after I changed lens types my prescription became less complex so my lenses became much cheaper. I had heard gas permeable could do that but it didn't happen until I changed types. (I had all 4 opticians in the shop check my eye sight as they didn't believe it.)

I was looking in Specsavers, while sorting out my DD's glasses a few months ago, and they actually promote certain contact lenses to improve or halt the deterioration in young people's - so secondary age - eye sight as they grow.

@RaraRachael @MarshaMelrose I have both those dreams! Sometimes I'm trying to put a bigger than my eye soft floppy lens in, and sometimes I'm trying to put, almost a broken shard of plastic in! Euwwee. I kind of associate it with those broken teeth anxiety dreams!

Not really, you can make sure that they are not too tight and the fit perfect, but due to the cornea swelling overnight/pH changes and you not blinking, bacterial build up under the lens is far higher than with daily wear.

I tend to only recommend them to people now who fall asleep in their lenses or who have professions or lifestyles where it's difficult to wash your hands before removing lenses, or they have to grab naps when they can.

Thanks @underneaththeash. That makes sense. I know my optician isn't keen on them either so I'd sort of put the idea to one side. I like to think I'm careful with my eyes so I think I'll avoid them for the time being. Thanks for the info.

I've worn soft lens for almost 40 years, starting when I was 12. I have the monthly ones. Never had any problems - just make sure you attend regular check ups so any issues can be spotted immediately. I would never wear them swimming or in the shower as if you get water under them it can cause serious infections. And always wash your hands before inserting and taking out.

I also get a recurring dream of trying to put a huge contact lens the size of a plate in - I wonder what contact lens dreams mean??

I don't know his prescription off the top of my head, but I do know he's got astigmatism in both eyes and when he was younger he had to wear a patch for a couple of years as one eye was lazy - so much so that he had no 3D vision. The patching fixed the laziness, and he was discharged from the eye hospital when he was about 8years old (he's 14 now).

He's really keen to ditch the glasses, and I don't see any problems, although I am a bit worried about the hygiene aspect as he's a typical, stinky, soap dodging, teenage boy! 😂

But I think if the optician impresses upon him the importance of hygiene, they'll probably have more impact than me telling him! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thanks so everyone for their help - I feel greatly informed and am even considering them for myself! 😊