Are contact lenses as bad an idea for my 14 year old son as I think they are?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Contact lenses, love 'em or hate 'em? I have no first hand experience with contacts. My mom tried them for two different spurts. First hard lenses, and then again when soft lenses were first introduced.

My sister got soft lenses a year or two after mom did. She gave it another go five or so years later. My best friend tells a similar story.

All three of them have told him their reasons for choosing to go back to glasses. His answer to anything anyone tries to tell him based on previous experience is “yeah, but when WAS that? In the 20th century? Things have changed since then, haven’t they?”

Yes, I’m sure they have.

He has an eye exam tomorrow and just asked me if I would allow him to get contacts. I don’t know if our insurance would cover them so it may be a moot point. My gut reaction is that I would have to learn all about their care and use and remind him to do whatever needed doing. That notion makes me sleepy.

It’s possible since it’s something he wants he might be more motivated but he has weekly chores, some of many years’ standing and I still have to remind him every week.

I don’t know how often newer extended wear lenses need to be cleaned. I can easily see this kid telling me “I’ve been out of solution for two weeks” and needing a ride to the store to get some at 10pm.

Inviting all lens stories. Thanks in advance.

2

Your son either wants them for sports, or wants them to look cool and probably more attractive to girls. Many, many moons ago I bought myself contacts at 15 since wearing glasses and playing soccer just really doesn’t work. I was motivated and able to do all that needed doing, and was probably a lot like your son.

I got my son contacts when he was 12 for playing baseball. He will occasionally wear them for special events now (he’s 14 and stopped playing ball) but he’s not got good fine motor skills and it’s a lot of work for him to get them in and out, plus I guess he just doesn’t find them as comfortable as glasses. My daughter has worn mostly contacts since about 13 or 14, but will also wear glasses sometimes. She’s more of the athlete in our home of the two of them, and also a lot more socially adept.

3

I got soft lenses when I was 12 and switched to rigid lenses when I was 16. I wore them until I was 28 (this year) and switched back to soft.

They’re really not a big deal, in my experience. Although to be fair I was an extremely conscientious kid.

Obviously the health of the kid’s eye is #1 priority but one thing to keep in mind from a financial perspective is that it might be too expensive if he needs rigid lenses vs. soft. Soft lenses get replaced anywhere from daily to after a month, max. My rigid lenses cost over $200 per eye and lasted essentially forever… I would often wear the same lens for 3+ years until it got fuzzy and scratchy and I needed a new one. It’d be a lot of responsibility for a 14 year old.

Based on my own interactions, I think you may have uncommonly negative experiences with contacts. I literally can’t think of anyone I know who tried contacts and went back to glasses. I know about 2 people who never tried because it grossed them out and a lot who got LASIK, but not one who tried contacts for a while and went back to glasses. Obviously my experience is dominated by people in their late 20s/early 30s.

4

I went back to glasses, but only because in Melbourne I get hayfever and it got too irritating.

Had better eyesight, better at sports, etc - loved them.

There are some risks of eye infections etc that are pretty grim though, so you will need to make sure he washes/uses them properly.

Otara

5

When I was a teenager, I had some friends that had appalling sanitation habits in regards to their contacts. They turned out fine, but you really don’t want to mess around with your eyes. My dad (an MD), refused to let me get contacts until I turned 18 for specifically that reason.

That being said, I now use daily disposable contacts which are phenomenal, though quite costly.

6

I’ve been wearing them since I was about 14 or so. I’m 31 now and have really never gone back to glasses except at night when I take them out. I’ve had a few different brands over the years, all soft lenses, some I like more, some I like less, but that’s all personal preference so there’s not much use in going in to that here. I’ve also worn the kind that you can leave in for 2 weeks weeks at a shot. I left them in for 5-6 weeks with no problems. In the 17 years or so that I’ve had them I never had any major problems. The only issue I had was after wearing the 2 week at a time contacts for 6 weeks at a time for about 5 years. Between two optometrists, an ophthalmologist and about 6 appointments over 3 months I couldn’t tell you if the problems were due to leaving them in too long, the cheap solution I was using or some other random issue. Either way, it was nothing major and it’s since gone away.

As for the daily maintenance, I was freakin’ religious about that at first. My fingers didn’t go anywhere near my eyes until my hands were washed with soap and water. Every night I washed and rinsed my contacts. They were disposed of and replaced every two weeks like clock work. Over the years I got more lax about that. By the time I had them for about 6 or 7 years I was wearing them for about 5 weeks before tossing them (not overnight, never wore them while sleeping until I got the Night & Days), stopped washing my hands and I think I stopped washing them after a year or two. Like I said, I never had any problems.

One thing I can recommend is to use Clear Care. It’s as simple as storing them overnight in regular saline solution but it cleans them with hydrogen peroxide so there’s no extra work on your part. Like I said, I haven’t cleaned my lenses in over a decade so I can’t compare it to that, but they do feel much better in the morning then just storing them in regular saline. I believe it’s about $14 for two bottles so it’s not that much more expensive then a good saline solution like Opti-Free. Speaking of which. I always just bought the cheapest saline I could find. Whatever generic stuff the store had. It was usually like $2.00 a bottle compared to five or six dollars for the Opti-Free. When I was having those problems the optometrist told me that all the generic brands were made by the same manufacturer and not really designed for lenses made from hydrogel. To make a long story short, I’m recommending the Clear Care kit instead of the soap/rinse/store. Less work, less chance of losing a lens.

In short, I have no problem with a 14 year old wearing lenses. Just make sure he sticks with it. That first month is a real bitch. The first week is particularly awful. Yes, he will be able to feel a piece of plastic stuck to his eye all day, that’s normal and it’ll fade. By the second week he’ll be able to notice it if he’s thinks about it, by the third week it’s just sorta there and eventually he’ll just sort of forget about it all together unless something wonky happens with it. Also, NO rubbing your eyes with it in. That’s bad mmmkay.
One last thing. Tell him to plan to wake up an hour or so early to put them in the first day or three. When some people first get them they can pop them right in but for most people it can take quite a while to do it those first few days (I’d say it averages 15 minutes) and don’t do it over a sink with an open drain. It’s also normal for his eye lid and under his eye to get red and raw from holding it open those first few days. Fear not, after a few weeks he’ll be able to put them in and take them out in seconds.

To reply to what qubed said about daily wear contacts, the only people I suggest to get those for, due to the price is people that are only going to wear them once in a while. For example, if you almost always wear glasses except when you play basketball or go swimming.

7

I started wearing soft contact lenses when I was 14. I got them on my birthday, actually. The hardest part for me was getting used to putting them in and taking them out, but the woman who told me I’d eventually be doing it without a mirror was right. I’ve used two different systems for cleaning them. One involved rubbing cleaning drops on them when I took them out, rinsing them, and then storing them in a regular case. The method I use now is Clear Care, but I’m supposed to rub the contacts using saline solution after I take them out.

My husband couldn’t get used to putting something in his eyes when he tried contacts and gave up.

8

I’m by no means suggesting that he should have lax hygiene w/ regards to his contacts, I’m just telling you that I did and I turned out fine. Bad things can happen, but in all likelihood, they probably won’t. I should also mention that I do actually wash my hands if I know they’re dirty, but I usually don’t. It’s still a good habit to be in and if you can get him in it, that’s a good thing. If/when my daughter starts wearing contacts, I’ll drill it in to her (do as I say, not as I do and all that).

Also, you might do for him what my mom did for me “If you want contacts, pay for them yourself” She was worried that I would wear them for a few days and that would be it. IIRC she paid for them when it came time to reorder and she saw that I was wearing them instead of glasses. BTW, check out 1800Contacts and Sams Club (usually cheaper then 1800contacts). They’ll likely both have better prices then getting them through your eye doctor.

9

I got contacts around your son’s age and my experiences are on par with JoeyP’s. Being a 14 year old boy, I would ask about the ones you wear day and night so you do not end up with the ones meant to be taken out every night that get slept in anyway because 14 year olds do not always remember stuff. I did that once - wore my regular “take them out every night” lenses overnight and did not clean them. I ended up with at corneal abrasion. My contacts were confiscated by the doc for six months to heal (and as punishment I think). It was very painful as well. Keep in mind this was probably 10 years ago, before the overnights were an option.

I know insurance is a concern as well. Even if he gets contacts he is going to need a pair of glasses. Could be a day when there is an emergency, or at night to read after the contacts are out but before he is ready to sleep. Being blind (not really, it just feels like it) during the “stumble to the bathroom to get them in” is not always fun and he does need a back up. If it is not an option right now I would tell the doc office that you need both but can not afford it right now and can they keep your Rx on file so you can come back in 6 months to pay for the (whichever one you don’t get) then without another fitting fee or any other problems.

10

I was under the impression (don’t know why) that he already had glasses. If that’s the case, I would just keep the old glasses. If he can stick with the contacts, the old glasses, assuming there isn’t a huge jump, should be just fine.

Also, I agree, falling asleep, even for as little as 10 minutes sucks with normal contacts. I had a friend that wound up with a scratch on her eye as well when she fell asleep over night with lenses in. But, Night and Day’s are so expensive. I think I paid, what $50 a box for those and aren’t Acuvue 2’s like $15 a box? Personally, I would start with the Acuvue 2’s and just make sure the kid takes them out before bed time. But it is nice to be able to wake up with lenses already in. Boy, I haven’t done that in like a year or two. It was nice, but my eyes are usually really tired by the time I get home from work and it feels so nice to take them out at the end of the day.

11

My14 yo son has been wearing contact lenses since he was 12 yo. We have not had one single problem, save he forgot to mention when he ran out and had to wear his glasses for a couple of weeks before we could get more.

He wears Acuvue2 lenses and sleeps in them always. (Same for me, fwiw.) He wears them for a couple of weeks and then changes them. All of this at the direction of our eye doctor. Our eye doc won’t let you leave with them if you can’t put them in and take them out several times in row, Kiddo managed it quicker than most adults according to the tech. He was highly motivated to have them.

12

I wear the modern contacts – silicone hydrogel soft contacts. (I prefer O2Optix, but there are other brands.) Mine are wearable for up to a week, then I take them out and clean them and store them for a night, and then reinsert them. A pair is wearable for up to four weeks. (But I did wear them daily for about a year before I switched to this schedule.) Weeklies are way easier to deal with than dailies, and from what I’ve read, not significantly more likely to cause problems. I think the reason my opto started me on regular daily lenses is that it takes a couple weeks before you get good at inserting and removing them when you first get them, but once that’s over it’s definitely not a big deal.

Contacts correct vision far better than glasses. When I’m wearing glasses, like for instance during that evening and morning where I can’t wear my contacts, I find the fact that my vision is only corrected when I’m looking through them irritating. And even then, there are shape and color issues when I look through the peripheral parts of my lenses. Whereas contacts move with your focus.

I am quite fond of my opto, and she once mentioned to me that her 8-year-old daughter wears contacts. It’s definitely worth making sure your kids are following proper lens hygiene, because failing to do so can lead to problems. And unless they’re approved for overnight wear it’s important that the patient is responsible enough to remove them every single night. But if it’s a kid who is capable of taking responsibility, they can wear them at a very young age. My optometrist’s daughter apparently can insert and remove them without a mirror (which I only do in extremis). So, in essence, there’s no reason a responsible teenager can’t handle them. It’s worth monitoring to make sure that the kid buys a new case when necessary (no more than three months!) and hasn’t decided to try buying cheap-o solution. But there’s no reason a 14-year-old can’t handle them. I wish I had gotten contacts at that age.

Also, like Joey P, I’m a fan of Clear Care. It’s worth talking to the optometrist about that. It’s generally less likely to cause problems than typical contact solution. And it is, according to studies, better at preventing eye infections. But, uh, make sure your kid doesn’t follow Joey P’s example and clean and store their lenses using saline solution rather than a proper contact solution. Saline doesn’t do anything to germs. Real contact solution does.

[QUOTE=Joey P]
The first week is particularly awful. Yes, he will be able to feel a piece of plastic stuck to his eye all day, that’s normal and it’ll fade.
[/QUOTE]

That’s weird. The first day I wore them – when the paraoptometrist inserted them and I went to class – I couldn’t feel a thing. It was only a problem when I had to remove or insert them. But when they were just calmly sitting on my eye, it was just like I had naturally perfect vision.

13

Wait, your eye doctor instructed you to wear them overnight? I’ve never met an eye doctor who even recommended that. In fact, just about every eye doctor I run across says it’s probably not a good thing. Even when I mention things like oxygen permeability and how much higher it is in Night and Day’s they still say that can’t recommend it. I can’t imagine an eye doctor directing you to sleep in them, especially if they’re Acuvue 2’s which aren’t designed to be slept it. Or did you mean he directed you to toss them every two weeks, cuz that would make sense for those lenses.

Also, yes, when I first got my lenses it was the same thing, in fact, my optho requires all new contact patients to have an hour session where they learn to put them in, take them out and clean them and you don’t leave until your comfortable with it.

Also, the OP should expect a follow up appointment in a week or so. Most eye docs will give you a sample pair (for free) and then have you come back about a week later to see how they fit and feel. Even if you’ve been wearing them for 15 years they’ll still do this if you change brands, size or scripts. From what I’ve learned, sizing lenses is more of an art then a science. It’s kind of like fitting clothes and shoes. What fits in one brand won’t fit in another brand. Some lenses (like Night and Days) only come in a few sizes so you need to wear them for a few days and just decide if you want to go with too big or too small.

14

I have been wearing contacts for over 25 years now.
I was about his age when I asked for contacts.
I can say with certainty that unless her eye doctor recommends otherwise, I would only use daily disposables for my daughter should she need/want them.

I was pretty mindful of them as a kid, but they got really dirty, really coated and I didn’t really want to say anything because I knew how expensive they were back then. I was horrified my parents would make me wear glasses again (I really, really hated them. It was the 80’s and they were huge and thick).

15

Thanks everybody! I’m definitely more open to it than I was. There’s still the insurance/cost hurdle but it seems as if that might not be insurmountable.

He doesn’t play any sports. I wonder if he’ll feel like it with improved peripheral vision. Any chance that will prove helpful when playing video games?

16

I’ve worn them since I was about 15, and I’m 50 now. Love them.

17

I got my first pair of contacts when I was around ten years old. I started out with soft contacts and switched over to rigid gas-permeable, which has served me well for the last 20 years.

It’s one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Nothing sucks more than trying to see the world through a fixed little patch of glass that, if you engage in even modest activity, tries to fall down off your face. Not to mention how much it improved my confidence. Contacts let me see like a normal person,a nd I love it.

18

I first got contact lenses in my late teens but was too lazy to use them at first. Now I use them every day. I don’t think it’s a big deal and vision is better with them than with glasses - it’s not just about looking cool as has been suggested.

Anyway, I don’t see why they should be a bad idea as long as he gets a few horror stories hammered into him about what happens if you pick your nose then put your lenses in… or something.

19

Really? I wear Bausch & Lomb PureVision® Toric lenses, which according to the blurb are “approved for up to 30 days of continuous wear”, and my optician confirms that yes, that means overnight. She does recommend taking them out once or twice in that time to rinse them with saline, but otherwise, I put in them in once a month, and take them out once a month, no other issues.

It probably helps that I’m not a teenage boy who might be playing sports, swimming, going paintballing or anything else that involves stuff that isn’t a contact lense going near my eye though. :slight_smile:

20

It helped me a lot, but it depends how strong the prescription is I think.

Otara