I wear glasses. I am scared of contacts. In fact, I am scared of anything going anywhere near my eyes.
I use to be self conscious of the glasses and only wore them when I absolutely had to see. However, my SO has convinced me that I look stunning in the glasses and so now I wear them all of the time. (That is just one of the many reasons why I love him.)
It is nice to be able to see.
What – don’t want to try it Gary Busey-style?
Glasses for me. I have pretty bad allergies, and they often make my eyes water and itch badly. As a result, contacts would drive me crazy. I’ve had glasses since I was five, but didn’t wear them much. By the time I was 22, my eyesight had deteriorated so badly that I started wearing my glasses full time. The only time I remove them (other than sleeping or showering) is when I play gigs. Buddy Holly and John Lennon could pull off wearing glasses while playing rock & roll music, but I can’t. I look incredibly geeky.
Of course, I just remembered that in my SD People pages photo, I’m behind the drums wearing glasses. Must’ve forgotten that night.
Also, a funny thing happened recently. One night I went down to my local watering hole. On a whim, I took off my glasses before I went inside. That night, I met a girl and went home with her. All those times I showed up in glasses I got no love from the ladies. The first time I go without, I score. Coincidence?
I wore reading glasses on and off for years, but 2 years ago, old age caught up with me - I now wear progressive trifocals - with a red string thingie. I can’t stand the thought of sticking something in my eye, and I can’t afford surgery. I don’t mind the specs anyway… who am I trying to impress???
First got glasses in the 4th grade.
Then I moved on to contacts, just in time to start high school.
In college I got an infection in my eyes and had to stop wearing contacts. After it cleared up the contacts were a constant irritant so I switched back to glasses.
Finally, two years ago, I got laser surgery and it was great but I still can’t bring myself to throw out my glasses! They were expensive dammit!
Sometimes when I wake up I still reach for them out of habit. 
I wore glasses for 11 years, now I wear contacts. 'Cause, see, I played soccer a lot and I had a bad tendency to get hit in the face with the ball (it was often intentional, but sometimes not). And my glasses quickly became bent …
I used to worry about the finger-in-the-eye bit, but I got used to it pretty quickly. They add maybe 10 minutes to my daily routine (5 minutes in the morning, 5 in the evening), and the convenience is definitely worth it. If I got new glasses each year, as my changing vision seems to warrant, I think the expense would be about the same.
FairyChatMom, what?? Near, far, … and intermediate?
Glasses, big, thick ones, from age 9 to 18. Then hard contacts, gas permiables and current pair.
Got a massive eye infection last year:
DO NOT GO TO A GENERAL PRACTIONER.
GO TO AM OPTOMOLOGIST!!!
After the infection had been beaten off and the eye surface checked out okay, after throwing out every bit of makeup I owned (Cyn with glasses and no makeup!), my new contacts pleased me greatly. I’m wearing them now!
$3000-$5000? Wow . . I have seen advertisements in my area (San Francisco) for $500 per eye . . (granted, going to the cheapest eye doctor for this type of surgery is probably not the wisest), but that range seems really steep . . . If I may ask a question regarding your third point, what would be “out of bounds” for that type of surgery? My vision is at -4.25 in one eye and -4.50 in the other . . . would this be out of bounds??
And to answer the OP, I prefer contacts . . . the severity of my myopia would probably mean really thick glasses so I have never bothered to replace my old pair which I use only when my eyes are too dried out, right before going to bed or when I wake up to walk over to the bathroom and put my contacts in. Don’t know how thin the new type of lenses for glasses would be for my vision needs.
My worst experience with contacts was when I lacerated my cornea while putting them on one day . . because the lenses were not fully cleaned, the laceration ended up getting infected . . excruciating pain in that eye . . but antibiotics took care of that . . however every time I get checked up for contacts, the eye doctor points out the fact that I have scar tissue (because of the infection). No damage to my vision however. (I am EXTRA careful with my contacts now.)
Glasses for me. Hardly ever need them anyways…dont really see a need to have a contact in my eye all the time for something I only need to use sometimes.
And I’m told that I look smarter and cuter with glasses
I wear glasses, and wouldn’t think of getting contact lenses. I’d be uncomfortable putting the lenses onto my eyeballs. It’s important to have two or three different pairs of glasses – two “dress-up” pairs and one “regular” pair. Glasses are like shoes, though. If you have the resources, you can get a different pair for every outfit.
My friends tell me that my glasses make me look smart.
Glasses for me. I don’t like the thought of sticking things on my eyes every day, im extremely clumsy. And everyone says i look really good in my glasses. I also like being able to take them on and off in a hurry, and not having to worry about getting anything stuck under the lenses.
Unfortuneatley, though, i lost my glasses, and now i have for my eye exam for a new pair. Hopefully that will be ASAP.
The very bottom is for close work, the middle area is for computer screen/normal-every-day-mid-range-vision-stuff (I don’t think that’s the actual technical term) and the top is for distance. It took a few months to get used to them, and I have to be careful when moving about on the boat while it’s moving - the distortion in my periphery sometimes upsets my equilibrium - but I’m glad I’m not dealing with lines in the lens. I do catch myself holding my head at “old-lady” angles when looking at certain things, and it gives me a laugh… I don’t feel old, but I’m starting to do “old” things.
First time I checked, the cost was about $5000, second time I checked, about $3000. It is probably a bit cheaper now, but I do not think they are close to the $500 per eye. And the figure included surgery to both the eyes, not one. This is not San Francisco, there are not huge crowds of myopics demanding an eye surgery.
I think with the first eye surgeries that appeared, some years ago, I was too near the edge of the range accepted, and I was not even out of elementary school. With the ones that came afterwards, I could probably fit, but these are the more expensive surgeries. And even $1000 is too much for someone who doesnt even has money for transporation to go to the stupid orientation of the university she will attend!!!(but that’s another thing)
Glasses.
Glasses from 6th grade. Then when I turned 16, I got contacts. (Huzzah!) But they were the hard ones and they were a pain in the butt. (Maybe I was putting them in wrong.) (Oh…really? In the eye? Huh.)
In college I switched back to glasses when I needed to get my contacts polished, or cleaned, or whatever they did to make the contacts not hurt when I put them in my eye. Never got around to getting new contacts. So, there you go.
Glasses.
-Rue.
I’m exactly the same, but I stillreally want contact lenses. Is there aby way of overcoming this aversion or do I just have to slap 'em on my eyeball and bear it?
P.S. Is there any possible way that a contact lense can work its way round the back of your eyeball? That would really suck.
Sorry, is there a-n-y way of overcoming this aversion?
Glasses, here. Had them for about 20 years. Tried contacts once, but couldn’t get them on the eyes. Don’t mind glasses in the least, but if I can ever afford it, I’ll do RK or a similar procedure.
Incidentally, when laser surgery was in its early stages during the early 1980s, my dad was asked by Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia to undergo the procedure - a guinea pig/pioneer, if you will. They did one eye at a time, as I think they do now, and all I remember is that after each one he’d come home and be in a LOT of pain for at least a few hours after the drugs wore off. But it’s my understanding that the procedure’s improved quite a bit in the ensuing years.
I got my glasses when I was eight–I still remember wondering at how clear everything became (trees have leaves! Who knew?) I got gas-permeable hard contacts a few years later, but they never fit quite right, and I had serious glare issues with them. I couldn’t go outside without shades most days. Eventually I gave up on them.
A little over a year ago, I decided to try contacts again–they can make soft lenses that will correct my vision now, although they’re tricky, expensive, and decidedly not sleep-wear or disposable. Fortunately, I got directed to an excellent eye doctor, who managed to hit just the right prescription (OK, it took him two tries on my right eye, but it sometimes takes as many as six)–and I got that sense of wonder again. They corrected my vision to 20/10–I went from reading slightly fuzzy words on a page (my vision wasn’t good even with my glasses), to being able to see the grain of the paper in sharp relief at arm’s length. I walked around for days marvelling at how much I could see. I also had useful peripheral vision for the first time in over a decade–very handy for posting drills in a stick-fighting class. I’m sticking with contacts from here on out.
For those of you who are worried about your squeamishness preventing you from putting them in–you would probably have to force yourself for the first week or so, then it would become automatic. You get used to it.
Glasses since grade school, then extended wear contacts since, I’m not sure, at least 25 years. I never went through the hard contact regimen, thank the Odd Gods of the Galaxy.
When I first got my contacts they told me “You can wear these for 6 weeks at a time.” And I did. No you can’t boys and girls. I got little tiny blood vessels growing into the lenses of my eyes (oxygen deprivation), I forget the name for this condition. Anyway, now I remove my lenses every night and wear glasses. But only around the house, because with my glasses I don’t seem to have any depth perception.
Now I use disposable lenses, but I sterilize them every night and reuse them for 6 to 8 weeks, or until I think they need replacing. It’s pretty economical that way, and you can buy contacts over the internet quite cheaply. You still need to get a valid prescription from an Optometrist or Opthamologist though.
It took me a long time to get used to putting something in my eyes, but it really doesn’t hurt at all, unless you’re doing something wrong. You just have to be very careful that your lenses are clean and sterile, and wash your hands thouroughly with non-perfumed soap beforehand. (And never chop up jalapeno peppers with your bare hands) :eek:.
I’ve thought about the laser surgery. it would really be a lot better than worrying about contacts and glasses when I’m doing something like snorkeling. Maybe someday.
My story is like bafaa’s. up to a point.
Glasses in 4th grade. Hard contacts in 10th grade. Contacts through college and most of graduate school (switching to soft at some point). While I wore contacts, I wouldn’t be caught dead in my glasses and would wear contacts even when my eyes were bugging me. I have huge eyes, my best feature, but such terrible vision that glasses hide them and shrink them to narrow little pig-slits.
Started to have a probem with dry eyes, so reluctantly went back to glasses. Got used to them again, bought ones I liked stylewise, and now marvel at the ease of NOT having to deal with contacts all the time.
I tried contacts again a year ago, but couldn’t get over the dry eye thing. In fact, I have a year’s supply, unopened, sitting on my vanity. Sigh.
Maybe surgery someday, but I’m not sure I’m a good candidate given the size of my pupils.