Contact lenses for teenagers - any reason why not?

[doglover]

Both our dds (nearly 14 and nearly 13) are very shortsighted and have worn glasses for several years. They have recently mentioned having contact lenses but I'm unsure if this is deemed ok for children of their age. Any thoughts etc welcomed. They have optician appointments next week where we'll obviously discuss the issue fully. TIA.

I've been wearing contact lenses since I was 8 years old (late 1970s). It was fine. If I could handle it then, I'm sure your teenagers will manage. These days, you don't have to do anything except wash your hands and leave them in lens solution.

I'm a bit puzzled by the advice not to let your kids wear them in the bath or shower. What exactly do people think will happen in a bath? I've worn mine everywhere, including shower, bath, sauna, hammam, and swimming practice.

I got my permamnent soft lenses at 16, daily cleaning, weekly protein remover solution etc. Treated them like gold and never had an infection in 16 years of wearing them, but it is undeniably a pain in the arse with all the cleaning etc. I switched to daily disposeables a few years ago and wouldn't go back www.daysoftcontactlenses.com It's the guy who invented daily disposeables and then went out on his own after his NDA expired.

If your chidren want them I'd say go for it, and with daily disps you minimise any risk of infection through poor hygiene etc.

Its actually dangerous to swim/bathe etc in contact lenses sorry dailymail link.
Here is another from the BBC

The only time i have got water in my eyes when wearing contacts it has also be very painful and ruined the lens.

Sparkle - There is no more daily cleaning & weekly deproteinisation, fyi.

OP - I would recommend monthlies rather than dailies, simply because their longer "lifetime" means they are not uncomfortable in the evenings like dailies can be.

Continuing thanks

I got mine at 12. Changed my life and also my mum's, as up to that point I had left my glasses pretty much everywhere you can think of. She use to say that our phone speed dial read "gran", "uncle x" and "glasses finding hotline" because I took them off for a sec then left them there......

Somebody - Really? Daily Mail says "I swam with my contact lenses and now I'm blind in one eye"?

No, actually, swimming with contact lenses is not dangerous and does not cause blindness. Eye infections can be dangerous (often are not) and if left untreated for a very long time, they can cause blindness.

I used to be a semi-professional swimmer and wore my contact lenses through every practice. I had to, if I were to see where I was going. I never had an infection. And when I had a bit of water in my eye, I just closed and wiped it like I would if I didn't have contacts.

I love Mumsnet!!

my DS is 9 and just got his. It has been recommended that he only wears them on alternative days for the moment.

I know its not about the wearing of the lense but the allowing of the water from the pool or a tap getting into the lens.This allows for an eye infection to develop when it otherwise may not have done. Knew i shouldnt have linked the DM.

BBC article states "The doctors have suggested that infections are being caused by people failing to disinfect their lenses properly or wearing them while swimming or showering. "

The US dept of health and human services also recommends not swimming in lenses and states "Do not expose your contact lenses to any water: tap, bottled, distilled, lake or ocean water. Never use non-sterile water (distilled water, tap water or any homemade saline solution). Tap and distilled water have been associated with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a corneal infection that is resistant to treatment and cure.
Remove your contact lenses before swimming. There is a risk of eye infection from bacteria in swimming pool water, hot tubs, lakes and the ocean" here www.fda.gov/medicaldevices/productsandmedicalprocedures/HomeHealthandConsumer/ConsumerProducts/ContactLenses/ucm062589.htm

Specsavers also give similar advice here link

I scarred my corneas as a teen and some of the modern ones fell apart while being worn - ouch, trip to eye hospital ER. So there can be downsides. In the end, they started feeling massively uncomfortable (dry eyes) so I gave them up. Some friends had issues with revascularization and were told to give up wearing them.

But they felt liberating and confidence-boosting when I was 17.

It's true they don't suit everyone. I couldn't wear mine at all when pregnant. Bloody hormones! And some people have naturally dry eyes. But if you last tried lenses nome than 5 years ago you will be surprised at the change in them. Especially the ones I wear now. My mum wears them having never been able to before, but treats them like normal monthlies.

Op, you will only get anecdotal evidence her, which might be what you are looking for but I suggest you take your girls along to the opticians and get them checked for suitability and let them try a range of lenses, see what suits them best.

I got gas permeables when I was about 16 (24 years ago) and have been wearing them every day for minimum of 14 hours a day ever since. I only switched to soft lenses about 7 years ago.

Only problem with gas permeables was that they would fall out occassionally - i lost one bungy jumping and lots when drunk after late nights. I passed my driving test aged 17 with only one lens in having lost one at a party 2 days before.

Careful, I had permanent soft lenses from 14 & wore them for more than the recommended 8 hours per day which has now left me with very dry eyes from continued lack of oxygen over a period of 8 years. I now have disposables that i wear occasionally as i can't wear them for very long now.
Just be aware that teenagers don't always listen!

Ok, point taken, PAS!

I had gas permeable lenses from 12. I wore them for over 20 years and had absolutely no problems with them but you must be diligent about hygiene and check ups.

Find a good optician and ask for advice.

I had gas permeables for about sox months but they were always painful. I could always feel them. It was eventually discovered that my pupils are so large that the GP contact lenses didn't fit properly. I swapped for soft lenses and haven't looked back. I wear mine for long periods each day so I have very expensive porous ones that let in a lot of oxygen.

God I love my contact lenses.

I never knew this whole 'world' existed! (My eyesight is excellent; my hearing is rubbish!!)

I got my first pair at 13 and I'm 41 next month. They've been great although possibly due to the number of years I've been wearing them, am far less able to tolerate them for long these days. Agree, hand hygiene is a must though.

I've had mine from age 13-ish. That's 32 years I've worn them now. I wore soft ones for a couple of years, but kept tearing them (crap case design) and getting ink stains on them while I was at school. (Inky fingers taking them out.) I remember it being a bit of a faff having to sterlise them etc. But I got hard gas permeable ones when I was about 15 / 16 and have never looked back. I put them in when I wake up and take them out just before I go to bed. I swim in them, I played sport in them when I was younger. They are so comfy that the only way I can tell I have them in, is that I can SEE!!!

Go for it!

I went into gas permeable lenses aged 8, and switched to soft some 15 years later when technology had finally caught up with my horrifically high prescription. I do wear mine when showering and bathing (I do not swim, however) because I run a higher risk of hurting myself without them in than I do of contracting the rare infection Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Even at eight years old, they were a revelation. I could see a hell of a lot better than I could in glasses, when my prescription meant I had no peripheral vision, and I could - gasp - see my eyes for the first time in a mirror

If your girls are careful souls, OP, take them to an optician and key them do a trial. They, and you, will soon know if it is going to work,

Six months, not sox months. Sorry. Obviously these contact lenses are not quite as good as they could be.

had mine from 15 - hard lenses then (so a few teachers asking 'is everything all right at home?' due to red eyes for a week or two...), and then years of gas-permeables. Loved them but apparently you only get 20 years, then had to switch to monthly soft lenses. The hard lenses 'bandage' your eyes so when I stopped wearing them I got years of extra short-sightedness in one go...

anyway - no reason that sensible kids shouldn't. Cheapest way once prescription and type is sorted is to buy online, and shop around for solutions; this works out cheaper than the monthly payment deals. Bizarrely I buy my lenses from specsavers online which is cheaper than in-store! They MUST have their annual checkup. Daily disposables mean lots of packaging but no solutions, monthlies mean some organisation.

no sleeping in them, swimming possible with good goggles. Never get tap water on them, always wash hands.

oh, and with two in the house; mark the case with a blob of nail varnish for one, it is incredibly difficult to get different cases!

oh yes...they must also always have up to date glasses too.

I've worn them daily since I was 11 and love them so much. I'd go for the dailies and make sure they give their eyes a break one day a week and wear glasses. Brilliant, brilliant things though.