Most people need some sort of corrective lenses for their eyes, both for short distances and long range. Traditionally, two techniques have been used for the purpose of eyesight correction: contact lenses and glasses. Each of these has their own drawbacks and there are situations where each is better suited than the other option. Deciding on one solution that is right for your eyesight requires you to know the qualities of both lenses and glasses, and how these assist you in providing corrective eyesight.
Glasses or contact lenses – which one to choose
Glasses allow for the correction of eye problems such as astigmatism, far sightedness, and near sightedness. The use of bifocal glasses can help deal with farsightedness as well as nearsightedness. However, glasses come with the following disadvantages:
- They are quite uncomfortable when it comes to prolonged wear, as they rest on the nose and ears of the user.
- They constantly gather dust, which affects vision clarity.
- They tend to fall off from the face when the wearer gets an impact.
- They are likely to cause problems in the form of reflections on the lens surface, interfering with the thing that the user is looking at.
- Fogging up occurs during exertions by the wearer.
Some other reasons for people disliking the use of glasses include the problem of matching the glasses with wardrobes, and also the underlying cost of buying more than a pair of glasses.
Contact lenses are mostly used for correcting eye problems like near sightedness and astigmatism. They help in avoiding some of the common disadvantages of using glasses, such as:
- Dust doesn’t get collected on the surface as the lens is placed directly on the eyes.
- No additional weight on ears or nose.
- Peripheral vision can also be corrected.
- Fogging up doesn’t occur.
Some of the basic disadvantages of these lenses are:
- These are generally not recommended for sports as they tend to pop out of the wearer’s eye, or may even move out of alignment on impact.
- When working withchemicals, the lenses may get glued to the natural eye lens of the wearer.
There are many people who prefer glasses simply because of the aura they project, and many others avoid lenses because they are uncomfortable with putting something so close to their eyes. Therefore, choosing between glasses and contacts involves an act of balancing the preferences and needs of the wearer. A lot of people tend to use both these options, according to the circumstances they are in. Your choice finally comes down to what you think is important: safety, comfort, or looks. Or you may go for a combination of all three. The advances in the technology for making contact lenses have made it possible for all types of people to use these lenses. You can speak to your doctor for more information about the use of lenses.
Eye care for kids
According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), 80% of all classroom learning relies on vision. So, in order to ensure your child’s success at school, you have to consult their doctors every year. The following can be done to check your child’s eyesight:
- Watch how far they are when looking at something: If your child sits very close to the TV or computer screen or has to squint to see, then it could signal nearsightedness in the child. Nearsightedness causes blurry vision for objects at a distance.
- Track silent symptoms: If your child is having difficulty in seeing well, then he or she may close an eye or tilt their head to compensate. Head tilting is usually a sign of strabismus or imbalance in the eye muscles, which is a condition where the eyes aren’t aligned together properly.
- Look closely at how they read: It may seem that your child is distracted or is daydreaming when they often lose places when reading something. This could point to astigmatism in the child, where he or she may be seeing objects in a blurry or distorted manner.
- Check for headaches: If your child is experiencing frequent headaches, this may be happening due to blurry vision that they have developed. This usually occurs for farsighted people who have difficulty focusing on things that are nearby.
If you think your child is showing any of the symptoms listed above, you should immediately contact your eye doctor for further diagnosis. It is best to have the problem corrected soon or it may increase in magnitude and your child’s eyesight may worsen over time.
