There are about 45 million Americans who wear contact lenses at this time.
The average contact lens user is about 30 years old. But people of all ages use contacts to improve their vision.
It doesn’t matter if you’re 8 or 80. You can benefit from wearing contact lenses.
If you’re thinking about purchasing your first contact lenses, it’s a good idea to speak with your eye doctor about it. They’ll be able to answer any questions or concerns you might have when you start wearing your contacts.
Once you’re armed with all the information you’ll need to make the most of contacts, you’ll find them to be very beneficial on a daily basis. You might even wonder how you survived without contacts before.
Continue reading to learn more about the benefits you’ll enjoy when you start wearing contact lenses regularly.
Contact Lenses Can Be Used to Fix Many Vision Problems
Has your vision been giving you problems in recent years? You’ll be amazed by how clearly you can see once you have your first contact lenses in your eyes.
The biggest benefit of contact lenses is that they’re effective at treating a range of different vision problems. When you wear contact lenses, you won’t have to worry about dealing with:
- Near-sightedness, or myopia, which is a condition that makes it difficult to see objects that are far away
- Far-sightedness, or hyperopia, which is a condition that makes it difficult to see objects that are close by
- Astigmatism, which is a condition that makes objects near and far appear blurry
- Presbyopia, which is a condition that causes aging adults to experience blurry vision when looking at objects close up
Contact lenses are designed to sit on top of your eyes and move along with them naturally. When used properly, you’ll be able to see dramatically better than you could before you started wearing contacts.
Some studies have also suggested that younger people who wear contact lenses may slow down the development of near-sightedness.
They’re Easier to Put Into Your Eyes Than You Might Think
People who are getting their first contact lenses are often nervous about the idea of putting the lenses into their eyes.
It’s one thing to have an eye doctor do it for you. But when you’re all alone and have to do it yourself, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. You might be worried about doing damage to your eyes or putting your contact lenses in improperly.
You do obviously want to be careful about how you go about putting your contact lenses into your eyes. But it’s simpler than most people realize.
Here are the 4 easy steps you’ll need to follow:
- Wash your hands! You should always make sure your hands are clean before you handle your contact lenses. If they’re not, you could introduce bacteria and germs into your eyes that could lead to an infection.
- Place one of your contact lenses onto the tip of your finger and check to see that it’s not inside out. Putting a contact lens in inside out could cause complications.
- Use your free hand to open your eye so that you can put your contact lens into it. Hold your upper eyelid open with one finger so that you don’t blink when you’re putting your contact lens in, and pull your lower eyelid down with the rest of your fingers.
- Look upward as you gently move your contact lens towards your eye. Place the contact lens down on your eye and then close your eye so that the contact lens has a moment to settle. As long as it feels OK, your contact lens is in! Repeat the same process with your other contact lens.
See? It’s not nearly as difficult as you might think it is. Once you start putting your first contact lenses in every day, you’ll be a pro at it in no time.
They’re Also Easy to Maintain Once You Get the Hang of It
One of the other things some people worry about when they get their first contact lenses is maintaining them. Doing contact lens maintenance is also much easier than you might think.
Here are a few tips for keeping your contact lenses in good condition:
- Always wash your hands before handling your contact lenses
- Avoid allowing your contact lenses to come into contact with water
- Use a special contact lens cleaning solution to sterilize your lenses between uses
- Store contact lenses in a sterile contact lens case when you’re not wearing them
- Discard old contact lenses and replace them with new ones (and never wear contact lenses for longer than you should!)
As long as you follow these tips, you shouldn’t have any issues with your contact lenses. They’ll stay clean and will feel good every time you put them into your eyes.
They’ll Feel Comfortable in Your Eyes
Speaking of feeling good, contact lenses will be pretty much unnoticeable when you put them into your eyes.
Many years ago, people complained about contact lenses being uncomfortable. They chose not to wear them because they didn’t like how they felt.
But these days, this isn’t a problem at all. Once you start wearing your first contact lenses daily, you’ll hardly even notice when they’re in your eyes.
They Can Be Worn for Longer Stretches of Time Than in the Past
Another common complaint that many contact lens wearers used to have was that their contacts would irritate their eyes and make them feel itchy after a certain number of hours.
In general, you shouldn’t get into the habit of sleeping with your contacts in unless you have contact lenses that are designed for overnight wear. But you can wear contacts for a lot longer than you used to be able to.
Technological advancements have made it possible for people to keep contact lenses in their eyes all day without any redness or irritation. If you do experience any discomfort with your contacts, talk to your ophthalmologist about what could potentially be causing the problem.
They Won’t Cost You a Fortune
Are you worried about how much it might cost to invest in your first contact lenses?
Don’t worry too much about it. While there will be some cost associated with wearing contact lenses, they aren’t going to break the bank.
You also have plenty of options these days, depending upon what your budget is. There are daily contact lenses that you wear once and then discard. There are also contact lenses you can wear for weeks at a time.
You should not try to save money by getting more life out of your contact lenses than is recommended by your ophthalmologist. But over the course of a year, contact lenses shouldn’t put a serious strain on your financial situation anyway.
They’re Available in Speciality Fits If Regular Contacts Don’t Work for You
There are soft contact lenses as well as hard contact lenses. If you don’t like the fit and feel of one, you may have the option of trying the other.
But if you find that both present problems for you, there are specialty fits that might do the trick. You can choose from:
- Hybrid contact lenses that are a blend of hard and soft lenses. They can provide you with the crisp vision that you’ll typically get out of hard contact lenses along with the comfort that comes along with soft contact lenses. They’re ideal for those with conditions like high myopia, high astigmatism, and irregular corneas.
- Scleral contact lenses that are a larger version of normal hard contact lenses. They come in several different sizes and cover a bigger portion of the iris than regular lenses. They’re ideal for those with severely dry eyes, irregular corneas, and more.
- Contact lenses made through a process called Orthokeratology/Corneal Refractive Therapy. They’re gas permeable contact lenses that you can wear when you’re sleeping in order to reshape your cornea to cut down on astigmatism and myopia.
Your eye doctor can tell you if any of these specialty fit contact lenses would be right for you.
They’re Available in Different Colors If You Want to Change Your Appearance
Have you always wanted to have blue, green, or hazel eyes?
One of the latest developments in the world of contact lenses is the creation of safe colored contacts. These contact lenses do the same thing as other contact lenses, but they do it while making your eyes a different color.
A piece of advice: You do want to make sure you purchase colored contact lenses from a trusted manufacturer. Over the years, there have been lots of manufacturers who have produced colored contacts that aren’t necessarily safe for your eyes.
But as long as you take the proper steps to get your hands on them, you can use your contact lenses to change your eye colors. You’ll notice more people giving you second looks when you’re walking down the street with these kinds of contacts in your eyes.
They Won’t Fog Up When You’re Wearing Them
Contact lenses are supposed to make you see better when you’re wearing them.
The last thing you want is for your contacts to fog up on you and prevent you from being able to see clearly. Fortunately, foggy conditions won’t be something that you need to manage at any time when you have your contacts in.
If you do notice that your contact lenses are fogging up on you at any time, it’s likely a sign that there’s some other issue going on. Your contacts shouldn’t get foggy and make it tough for you to see at any point.
They’re Great for Those Who Play Sports
Do you play sports? Or do you like taking part in a lot of activities?
Whether you’re a star NBA player or just someone who likes to go on hikes on the weekends, you’ll love the freedom that contact lenses will provi
de for you. They’ll stay in place when you’re shooting hoops or climbing a mountain and allow you to see clearly the whole time.
There are even some professional athletes who have started to wear colored contact lenses to cut down on glare and improve their overall performance on the court and field.
Playing sports will be so much easier when your vision is as close to perfect as possible. Ask your ophthalmologist about how contact lenses could help you enjoy sports and other activities even more than you already do.
They’ve Been Shown to Improve Self-Esteem in Children
If you’re thinking about getting your child their first contact lenses, you might not be 100 percent sold on the idea.
But here’s a bit of good news: There are studies that have shown that contact lenses appear to provide kids with a boost in self-esteem when they start wearing them.
Many kids love the way they look when they’re wearing contact lenses. They also appreciate the fact that they can see and aren’t shy about participating in classroom activities anymore.
If your child has any self-esteem issues that you’ve noticed, the solution could be to get contact lenses for them. Their contacts could make them feel better about themselves right away.
Purchase Your First Contact Lenses Today
It can be a little bit nervewracking to do anything for the first time. That goes for your first contact lenses, too!
If you’ve never worn contact lenses and you want to do it, don’t allow your nerves to get the best of you and stop you from doing it. Instead, have a conversation with your ophthalmologist about how wearing contact lenses will impact your life.
Rather than trying to manage your vision problems on your own, allow your contact lenses to give you your sense of vision back. You’ll love being able to see clearly again, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t make the decision to try contacts out much sooner.
Contact the doctors at Magruder Eye Institute to schedule a contact lens consultation. You can check out our blog as well to get additional information on contact lenses and your other options for dealing with poor vision.
