Not sure where to post this about contact lenses for a 12 year old
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My 12 year old daughter has been wearing glasses for the past 6 years and she has been asking for contacts of the past 6 months. Any ideas about this with regards to safety, care and ease of use? What kind of contact lenses should we go for and what should we avoid? I am not sure if this is the best place to post this, sorry if I have inadvertently posted it in the wrong place. Any help is nightly appreciated. Thank you.
12, might be a little young yet, however, if she is responsible and able to properly take care of them and wear them according to her eye doctors instructions she should be ok. Improper wearing of contact lenses can cause many serious problems with the worse being blindness, talk to her eye doctor and see what they say.
I got contacts when I was 15. Back then, hard lenses were my only option. But I begged my mother for yeeeeears to get me some.
I currently wear daily disposable, soft lenses because I have chronic dry eye & I've had two LASIK procedures on both of my eyes. The lenses my Optometrist prescribed fit my post-LASIK corneas better than other soft, disposable lenses I used to wear, and they help with my dry eye.
I would suggest your talk to her Optometrist and discuss your concerns. Also, it's important to follow-up with annual eye exams to ensure the health of her eyes and not just vision/prescription changes. And I'm not a parent, so forgive me if I'm overstepping, but you could include her in on the financial responsibility of contact lenses if they're more expensive than glasses. That way, she might realize contacts are a privilege.
If you do decide to get her contact lenses, your Optometrist should fit her with a trial pair to see how her vision adapts to them. I order my disposable lenses online as they tend to be cheaper than ordering through the Optometrist.
I got contacts when I was 15. Back then, hard lenses were my only option. But I begged my mother for yeeeeears to get me some.
I currently wear daily disposable, soft lenses because I have chronic dry eye & I've had two LASIK procedures on both of my eyes. The lenses my Optometrist prescribed fit my post-LASIK corneas better than other soft, disposable lenses I used to wear, and they help with my dry eye.
I would suggest your talk to her Optometrist and discuss your concerns. Also, it's important to follow-up with annual eye exams to ensure the health of her eyes and not just vision/prescription changes. And I'm not a parent, so forgive me if I'm overstepping, but you could include her in on the financial responsibility of contact lenses if they're more expensive than glasses. That way, she might realize contacts are a privilege.
If you do decide to get her contact lenses, your Optometrist should fit her with a trial pair to see how her vision adapts to them. I order my disposable lenses online as they tend to be cheaper than ordering through the Optometrist.
thank you, Agilpro and Eggalegga for your replies.
Eggalegga, what exactly are soft lenses ? I know it is dependent on a number of factors but just wanted to get a very rough idea of how much the daily disposable lenses cost. do you stock up for a few months at a time? thanks
Soft lenses are more comfortable to wear and by their name, are more pliable than a rigid gas permeable lens. Read about contact lens materials here. I wore hard lenses when I first got contacts, then switched to gas perm since they provided more oxygen/better health for my eyes, then after my LASIK procedures, I got soft, disposable lenses. I needed soft lenses since my corneas were all misshapen after my LASIK surgeries.
Soft disposable lenses are more comfortable than hard or gas perm, but they're more difficult to put in my eyes. Since the lens is so soft, it has a tendency to turn inside out, or stick on my fingertip when trying to put in my eye. Your daughter's optometrist will help her learn how to tell when a lens is inside out & give her hints as to how best put them in her eyes.
Daily disposables are great in that you only wear them for the day then throw them away. No need to buy contact lens soaking solutions. But, they are more expensive since you're replacing them daily. For my chronic dry eye and my post LASIK vision issues, daily disposables were best for me...just not for my budget. LOL
I used to buy my biweekly, disposable, soft, lenses online, but now, I buy my daily disposable soft lenses from a local optical because I get a significant discount using my vision insurance. I had to buy 1 year's worth of lenses all at once to get the discount. I wouldn't advise that for a new lens wearer since you don't know how your daughter will do with contact lenses. The local optical would match the lowest online price I could find, then I applied my insurance discount and saved the most money. But again, had to buy 1 year's worth of lenses all at once.
These are the lenses I've bought before:
Acuvue Daily disposables: 90 day supply $60/box (remember, this is a 3 month supply for one eye....you'll need to buy lenses for BOTH eyes)
Air Optix brand, Acuvue 2, and Biofinity are others I've worn in the past.
Your daughter could probably get a cheaper lens than I wear since she most likely won't have dry eye issues. Do you know if she has astigmatism? They make contacts for those too, but I think those are not disposable lenses. They're called toric lenses.
I think talking with her Optometrist is the best advice I can offer. Also, I keep a pair of eyeglasses as a back up plan. If anyone sustains an injury to their eye, it's good to have a pair of glasses to wear.
Soft lenses are more comfortable to wear and by their name, are more pliable than a rigid gas permeable lens. Read about contact lens materials here. I wore hard lenses when I first got contacts, then switched to gas perm since they provided more oxygen/better health for my eyes, then after my LASIK procedures, I got soft, disposable lenses. I needed soft lenses since my corneas were all misshapen after my LASIK surgeries.
Soft disposable lenses are more comfortable than hard or gas perm, but they're more difficult to put in my eyes. Since the lens is so soft, it has a tendency to turn inside out, or stick on my fingertip when trying to put in my eye. Your daughter's optometrist will help her learn how to tell when a lens is inside out & give her hints as to how best put them in her eyes.
Daily disposables are great in that you only wear them for the day then throw them away. No need to buy contact lens soaking solutions. But, they are more expensive since you're replacing them daily. For my chronic dry eye and my post LASIK vision issues, daily disposables were best for me...just not for my budget. LOL
I used to buy my biweekly, disposable, soft, lenses online, but now, I buy my daily disposable soft lenses from a local optical because I get a significant discount using my vision insurance. I had to buy 1 year's worth of lenses all at once to get the discount. I wouldn't advise that for a new lens wearer since you don't know how your daughter will do with contact lenses. The local optical would match the lowest online price I could find, then I applied my insurance discount and saved the most money. But again, had to buy 1 year's worth of lenses all at once.
These are the lenses I've bought before:
Acuvue Daily disposables: 90 day supply $60/box (remember, this is a 3 month supply for one eye....you'll need to buy lenses for BOTH eyes)
Air Optix brand, Acuvue 2, and Biofinity are others I've worn in the past.
Your daughter could probably get a cheaper lens than I wear since she most likely won't have dry eye issues. Do you know if she has astigmatism? They make contacts for those too, but I think those are not disposable lenses. They're called toric lenses.
I think talking with her Optometrist is the best advice I can offer. Also, I keep a pair of eyeglasses as a back up plan. If anyone sustains an injury to their eye, it's good to have a pair of glasses to wear.
My only advice is make sure she has a loooong time in the AM to get them in. This took me a while to master. It made me so anxious that I sometimes cried.
I also tore and dropped a lot of them but this is probably less of a concern since most people wear cheaper dailies or weeklies today.
Do you know if her particular vision problem will be able to be fixed with contacts? If so, if she approaches wearing them with an open mind, and ability to take care of them, she should be fine. I am old, and I have a love/hate relationship with mine. When I am in a hurry, they take forever to put in, and when I am not, they pop right in.
If someone patiently teachers her to put them in and take them out, and she wants to use them, she will be fine.
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