To worry about my daughter wearing contact lenses aged 14?

[cymruoddicatref]

I really struggle with this. Her dad gave in and took her to a high st optician and she now wears daily disposable lenses. It is supposed to be limited to 10 hours a day 2 to 3 days a week (minus 5 prescription), but already it is creeping up, and is a source of daily argument. The optician response is to try and sell me even more expensive lenses that "let in more oxygen" but I think a better response is not to wear them so often. I have bought her some lovely "designer" glasses with thin lenses, but the contacts still keep winning the day. She has friends who won't leave the house in glasses, so I am competing with strong peer pressure. Leaving (astronomical) cost aside for a moment, I and several of my friends found that long term (ie 10 plus years) of wearing lenses left us unable to wear lenses at all, because of high levels of discomfort - (although lenses in my day were not disposable, and I kept the same pair at university for a horrifying 3 years.) But anyway, I feel this is fairly uncharted territory, as nobody alive has worn lenses for more than say 40 years... My latest tactic is to withdraw funding, but I would like an objective view of the long term risks, that I could present to her - not scaremongering.

my DS wears monthly lenses and he is 13. he has had them since he was 12. the optician wouldnt let him out of the shop until he was certain son could cope with them. he wears them for a month then has 24 hours rest with wearing glasses then

Another one who has worn soft contact lenses since 14 (now 37) to correct -5.25 vision and astigmatism in both eyes. My mum is an ophthalmic nurse practitioner so was exceedingly fussy about the optician to whom I was taken and was fairly vigilant in my cleansing processes. Never had a problem and have very healthy eyes. HTH.

I'm really surprised at the massive negativity shown here towards wearing glasses. Stuff like peoples "lives beginning cos they got lenses".

Whats that all about then? Why are glasses such a big deal?

I haven't read the whole thread but I've worn contact lenses since I was 15. I went through a stage in my 20s of wearing them 24/7 and was advised by the optician to reduce the amount I wore them as the blood vessels in my eyes were starting to enlarge. So I started taking my contact lenses out when I got home from work and taking one day off a week. I have had absolutely no problems since and my eyes are perfectly healthy (i.e. optician says blood vessels returned to normal and no discomfort). Apparently daily disposables generally do let more oxygen in than more permanent lenses as eye gunk doesn't build up on the lenses (according to my optician).

I'm 32 and have been wearing monthly disposables since I was 13. My prescription has changed by 0.5 during this time. I wear them all day 12 hours plus, everyday and I don't even own glasses anymore. I've never had an eye infection and my optician says my eyes are completely healthy!

I've had the same optician since I was 12, moved with him when he opened his own practice. I think this is much better than the high street chain opticians where you don't see the same person each visit.

Sorry, to clarify - I also switched to daily disposables from monthly disposables at the time I was advised to reduce my contact lense wear...

"But anyway, I feel this is fairly uncharted territory, as nobody alive has worn lenses for more than say 40 years... "

I have! I was fitted for my first pair of lenses around the age of 3 or 4 and wore them in infants for a few hours each day - my mum used to come and put them in/take them out for me - I hated not being able to wear them all the times as due to this, most of my early childhood memories are literally a blur!

I have never worn soft lenses, only rigid ones, firstly proper old glass discs that made your eyes water if in wrong and nowadays rigid gas permeables. I have never had them from an optician, i have been under Moorfields eye hospital since they first realised I had sight problems age 3. I had surgery on my eyes age 5 and have a very high prescription. I have worn my lenses all night and day and when i go for my annual check usually get a nagging about my cleaning routine - my lenses sit high as apparently there is a lot of "tension" and it tends to mean they collect protein more easily.

My lenses enable me to lead a perfectly normal life,I am fine to drive and do every normal thing, If contact lenses had not been invented i would have to wear milk bottle bottom style lenses and have a red stripe on the bridge of my nose

The head lady at Moorfields and I once worked out that she had seen me when she was in training many moons ago - its our favourite story to tell the current medical students

Oh and I am 46 , so whilst it is good to be careful, i think your daughter should be fine

Me too, coming up for 40 years. My mum did get my soft lenses from the bloke who invented them so I think they were pretty high quality and she did the same for my elder sister who has worn hers for more than 40 years. The same firm still supplies me even though I no longer live near London. Hygiene is key. Although technically I should be able to wear mine overnight I never have done and I clean them daily with a solution called AO Sept.

x-post with Easterchocolate maybe, but here goes...

I'm a contact lens optician and so I've read this thread with interest.
I was fitted for lenses when I was about 15 and I had some yearly soft lenses as there was nothing else on the market. They were awful and I overwore them and gave myself 'veins in my eyes'. There was a scheme were you bought the solutions from them, and they would mark if off on your file and when you had bought 'enough' then you got a new pair of lenses. My lenses would sometimes be really old by the time they got replaced and they were horrible. My Dad didn't want me to have the gas permeable ones as he thought they would make my eyes look big . It's not true, but there was a girl lived down our road who wore them and she had big eyes anyway so I think he thought I'd look like her or something

I'm about -6 and I wouldn't give my lenses up for anyone. I wear the monthly high oxygen ones which I can sleep in if I want to. I had a check-up a few weeks ago and my eyes are fine.

The gas permeable ones are great as they let in TONS of oxygen to the eye (not the original hard type from long ago that didn't). They cover high precriptions and as long as they are looked after properly and you go for your check-ups when you're called then they can last a while.

Modern soft materials let a lot of oxygen in BUT there is an average wearing time of 10-12 hours for the 'average' adult-less for kids. The only way to wear them safely for longer is to go for the latest materials which are silicone hydrogel. They come in monthly / two-weekly disposables and in dailies, but there are only 2-3 brands on the market for these so if you want them make sure you ask for them and take your opticians advice if you are suitable or not.
They let the eyes breathe normally under them and will give a longer wearing time.

'Normal' dailies will NOT give this safely day in and day out. I am constantly surprised by the number of people I see who think that 'daily' means 'all day wear' and not 'daily disposable wear'. They are daily disposable instead of monthly or annual disposable. So unless you get the latest type you may be leaving yourself open to problems.

Having said that, I have some very young kids wearing lenses with no issues at all. My youngest is 7 and uses them for sports etc. Most of it comes dowm to you as her mum to make sure she washes her hands and cleans them etc. Make sure you ask questions at her check-ups and get all the information you need. The ACLM website is a good place to start aswell as the General Optical Council website. Can't make links work-sorry!!

Bootilicious is right about taking them out early and having a day off. Even if she has got the latest type, it's still good discipline to do. Her eyes are still growing after all.

Don't worry about the distance that glasses sit from the eyes, Revolting. Those groovy specs in the eye test room are at a certain distance and the glasses should match this so that extra effort doesn't need to be made IYSWIM. If the glasses are too low then take them back and get them altered.

You shouldn't ever really get someone suggesting a better lens for no reason. If they have suggested them, then take their advice.

Good luck!

I started wearing contacts from aged 14 but they were gas permeables (remember them??). I wore them all the time. Then I switched to soft contacts when I was around 18 and, away from my parents' supervision (at university), I over-wore them and got scar damage on my corneas - horrific! So I had to go back to glasses until my eyes got better. Then I wore contacts again but more sensibly. Am 40 now and still wear them but eyes are perfectly fine because I no longer overwear.

The reason I over-wore my contacts when younger was because I was never shown any nice glasses. Now I have "trendy" glasses that I love so wear them a lot.

You are right to be concerned about your DD over-wearing her contacts.

BTW, now I have daily disposable contacts and they are so so so comfortable and my eyes are really in good health now.