Does your child need to wear glasses, and hates them?
There is another option - teens can wear contact lenses, as well as adults. Find out what the pros and cons of contact lenses for teenagers are, and see if contacts could be a solution for your kid.

Which is better - contact lenses or glasses?
Glasses are easier, of course: all you need to do is to stick them on your nose. But it is no secret that kids and teens hate their glasses. Not wearing them will help your child to feel more attractive and sociable, and raise his or her self-esteem.

Also, contact lenses have a number of practical advantages. They provide crisper focal vision and excellent peripheral vision. Contacts are also better for playing sports and other physical activities.

What is the minimum age for wearing contact lenses?
Most doctors start prescribing contact lenses for children after 11 years of age, so it might surprise you to learn there is no minimum age for wearing contacts. Even infants can wear contacts, provided their parents insert and remove the lenses. So age isn't really an issue - what is more important is how responsible your child is. For instance, is he or she ready to follow a doctor's instructions and care for the lenses properly, every day?

Surprisingly, studies show that teens are often more responsible about caring for their contacts than adults. Of course, for the first few weeks you will have to supervise your daughter or son, to make sure they follow the doctor's instructions properly.

Are contacts safe for teenagers?
The safety of contact lenses, for teens, concerns many parents. Don't worry - if the lenses are worn on schedule and properly cared for, they are absolutely safe. Actually contacts are safer than glasses - they won't break during a game and cut your child.

Here is the list of contact lens safety rules:

• Always follow your doctors instructions for cleaning and storing the lenses

• Wear and replace your lenses on schedule; try not to wear them from sunrise to midnight

• Never sleep wearing your lenses

• Wear tight goggles while swimming with contact lenses

• If the lens feels uncomfortable in your eye, take the lens out

Losing a contact lens behind your eye is an urban legend; this is impossible, due to the physiology of the human eye. The worst that can happen is when a soft contact lens folds in half and hides under your eye lid. In this case, it is recommended to close your eye and gently massage it through the eye lids from the edges toward the middle. Eventually the lens will shift and be removed easily.

Do contact lenses feel comfortable?
Modern contact lenses are designed for comfort. People who wear high-quality soft contact lenses report that it usually feels like there is nothing in their eyes at all. If you feel that your eyes are tired and a bit dry, by the end of the day, then it is time to take the contacts out. To find out which contact lenses are the most comfortable see reviews of modern contact lenses

Of course the moment when you put lenses in causes a bit of discomfort, and so does the process of removing them. Still, it doesn't hurt and, with a little bit of practice, most teens can easily manage inserting and removing the lenses.

Is it difficult to care for contact lenses?
The days when contact lenses required different solutions for storing, cleaning and protein removing are gone. Now contact lens care is quite simple. For most soft lenses, all you need is a multi-purpose solution (for cleaning and storing) and a contact lens case.

And if you go for daily disposable contact lenses there is no care at all - just take the lens out of its sterile package and pop it in. If you don't trust your child to care for his or her lenses properly, dailies are the perfect solution.

Do contacts cost much more than glasses?
A pair of glasses costs more than a pair of contact lenses, but since contact lenses have to be replaced more often, their overall cost is higher. Daily disposable and color contacts are the most expensive; monthly disposable lenses do not cost as much. And, of course, the cost of contact lenses varies greatly from brand to brand.

However, if you know the secrets of buying discount contacts online, most lenses will cost less than 50 cents per day. I think you would agree that this is a fair price to pay for convenience, and to increase your kid's self-esteem.

So do you think that contact lenses can be a solution for your child? Give contact lenses a try and see if this helps your kid to feel better about herself of himself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tanya Turner is an eye health and vision expert. She provides consumer information, tips and advice about healthy contact lenses as well as reviews of trusted online retailers of cheap contact lenses

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