Teen Vision Issues

By Gretchyn Bailey

Many teens want to replace their eyeglasses with contact lenses, primarily for cosmetic reasons. They believe they look better without their glasses.

Most refractive errors are easily corrected with contact lenses — even astigmatism. In most cases, teens will see just as well with contact lenses as they do with glasses, or even better. Contact lenses offer clearer peripheral vision and less distortion than glasses because the contact lens sits directly on the eye, and there's no frame to block vision.

Teens involved in sports will especially appreciate contact lenses. Wearing contact lenses for recreational sports gives teens clearer vision and allows them to wear needed protective eyewear over contacts. Sure, there's a chance a contact lens will be dislodged or lost during sports play, but replacing a contact lens is much less expensive than replacing an entire pair of glasses.

Allowing teens to choose contact lenses over glasses for vision correction may prompt them to wear sunglasses more frequently as well. They will need to carry only a pair of sunglasses, rather than prescription eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses. Protecting the eyes from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays is important in the long run for healthy vision.

Disposable Contact Lenses Make
Lens Care Easy

Many parents are concerned about the amount of care involved in wearing contact lenses. Today, most care systems are quite simple. And most soft contact lenses worn today are disposable, and don't require much care. Your teen will likely have a few pairs at home in case of a torn or lost lens.

Another parental concern is teen responsibility for contact lenses. Most teens have the maturity to wear and care for contact lenses, but you know your teen best. Discuss your concerns both with your teen and your eye care practitioner. If your eye doctor feels your teen isn't ready, contact lenses won't be prescribed or they will be discontinued if your teen isn't following wear or care guidelines.

Consider requiring your teen to contribute part or all of the cost of contact lenses, including the eye examination, the lenses themselves, contact lens solutions, and replacement of lost or torn lenses. If teens must bear some of the financial responsibility, they may value wearing contact lenses more highly.

Contact Lenses: Self-Esteem Builder

Possibly the greatest benefit to wearing contact lenses is the significant jump in self-confidence your teen may experience. Self-esteem, school participation, grades, and social life may take an upswing after your teen starts to feel better about appearance.

Contact lenses are great for sports. They can also correct astigmatism, change eye color, and block UV rays.

Fun With Eye Color Change

Color contact lenses are a fun way for teens to change their appearance. Lightly tinted lenses can enhance or modify your current eye color by, for example, making light blue eyes a more vibrant blue or changing blue eyes to aquamarine. Colored contacts with opaque tints can change your eyes to a completely different color — from brown to blue, green, or violet, for example.

Some contact lenses can even make teen eyes look like cats' eyes or vampire eyes for Halloween parties or other special occasions.

Color and special effect contact lenses can also be worn by people who don't need vision correction. However, you still need a prescription for these lenses, because they are classified by the FDA as medical devices. As with any contact lens wear, your eye doctor must first examine your eyes to make sure they are healthy and that you have adequate tears to wear contacts successfully. A fitting must then be performed before your doctor can issue a final contact lens prescription.

Contact lenses are typically a healthy, safe, fun, and relatively inexpensive way for teens to start making decisions for themselves, with a little guidance from you and your eye care provider.

[Page updated July 2007]