Seven Reasons Why Your Teen Is Ready for Contact Lenses
Throughout childhood, most kids that require vision correction wear eyeglasses. As they age into their teenage years, though, your son or daughter may express interest in wearing contact lenses too. The question that parents ask eye doctors is whether their teens are ready for contact lenses, or whether it would be better to stick to glasses for a few more years. Here are seven reasons why it might be time for your teenager to start wearing contact lenses.
1. They aren’t alone: Contact lenses are not just for adults. Statistically, four million kids in the US under the age of 18 wear contact lenses, including some pre-teens. As with anything else, there are pros and cons that you and your son or daughter should weigh before deciding. However, it is important to note that age alone should not be the deciding factor.
2. They can handle the responsibility: The main concern when kids start wearing contact lenses is the additional responsibility involved. Certainly, with glasses, there is some responsibility. Your child always needs to keep track of their frames and not lose or break them. With contact lenses, the responsibility shifts to hygiene. If contact lenses aren’t inserted or removed correctly, or cleaned regularly, they can cause problems for eye health. It is vital that your
teenager understands these risks and be willing to do the extra work that comes with caring for contact lenses. In most cases, though, teens are ready for this responsibility.
3. Appearance and self-confidence are a factor: Most teenagers are concerned about their appearance and self-image. Your son or daughter may be self-conscious about wearing glasses and might feel more confident and comfortable in their own skin if they can switch to contact lenses. These factors are important to consider, as they can undoubtedly impact everything from social life to school performance to self esteem and how outgoing your teen is.
4. Comfort is a factor, too: In most cases, the transition from glasses to contacts is easy for patients—teens included. Contact lenses today are extremely comfortable to wear, to the point where your teen will be able to put them in and then forget about them during the day. There is no pressure on the ears or the bridge of the nose, or any of the other comfort issues that glasses may cause.
5. Contacts are better for student-athletes: If your teenager is interested in playing sports—whether as part of a high school team or through and outside-of-school organization—then contacts are likely the better option for them. In many sports such as football, soccer or track and field, glasses can get in the way and distract from performance.
They may even end up broken. Contacts are less obtrusive and don’t carry the same fragility, which makes them better for student-athletes.
6. There are vision benefits: For most patients, contacts deliver sharper and more consistent vision correction. They also don’t impair peripheral vision the way that glasses do, which can make them a safer option for teens who are just learning to drive. There are other vision benefits as well. For instance, glasses are likely to fog up, depending on weather, physical activity, or other factors. Contact lenses never have this issue.
7. Lenses can be fitted, crafted, or explicitly prescribed to resolve your teen’s vision complaints: The contact lens market is versatile and varied, featuring an array of both standard and specialty lenses that can be used to treat a great many vision concerns. An eye doctor can work with your teen to fit and prescribe lenses specifically tailored to address his or her needs. The result, in many cases, is vision correction that is superior to what any pair of glasses could offer.
At Miami Contact Lens Institute, we work with our patients—including teenagers—to provide the best lenses for optimal vision correction. We would be happy to talk with your family about whether now is the right time for your teen to switch to contacts. Get in touch with us today to schedule an appointment.