Having worn glasses for many years we may see the appeal of wearing eye contacts because they’re much more discreet, however we may think that they’re too expensive or may irritate our eyes. So let’s consider why you may want to swap out your glasses for contact lenses.

What Are Eye Contacts?

Contact lenses are medical devices worn on the eye, they make direct “contact” with the cornea of the eye to correct the function of the eyes cornea and lens. Over 30 million people in the United States now wear eye contacts and in fact for some medical conditions they are medically prescribed.

Types of Eye Contacts

There are two main types of contact lenses and your choice of either will often depend on the type of eye problem that you have. Soft contact lenses are most common and are usually applied and disposed of daily. They are relatively inexpensive and are applied to the eye by the wearer. They reduce the chances of infection and correct most eye problems. They contain water so are soft and flexible, and therefore allow oxygen to reach the cornea. Alternatively Gas-permeable lenses are hard lenses made of plastic and other materials that allow oxygen to pass through the lens to the eye. These lenses are more expensive and are often kept for a longer period of time, but therefore have to be cleaned well to avoid infection. Both types of lenses are only worn during waking hours, and at first may just be worn for a few hours at a time to reduce intolerance.

So Why Choose Eye Contacts Over Glasses?

Eye contacts are great for active people who are unable to wear glasses while playing sports, or exercises because their glasses may get steam up, slip off due to sweat or get damaged by a ball or opponent. Eye contacts stay in place during exercise and don’t impede the use of helmets, goggles and other safety gear.

Contacts also provide more consistent, clearer and unimpaired vision. Glasses have frames and get dirty and scratched. Lenses on the other hand provide a full field of clearer vision and shouldn’t get scratched or dirty, if they do you just replace them with a new pair inexpensively.

Contact lenses can also complement your look, allowing women to wear and apply eye make up more easily and also allow you to wear non-prescription sunglasses more often to protect your eyes from UV rays.

At first contact lenses might be a bit uncomfortable to put in and to wear but you will soon become used to them to the point that you will forget you’re wearing them. They can also be supplied as multi-focals for reading and long distance, thereby reducing the need for swapping of glasses for different things.

A good optometrist will often give you a free contact lens trial so you can test to see whether contact lenses make a difference for you. People rarely go back to wearing spectacles once they’ve tried contact lenses.