The time has come. After a few years of squinting or just moving nearer the small print, you look into the options and they tell you what you already sort of knew … your eyesight is no longer 20/20 and you need to decide between glasses or contacts.
The decision is never an easy one, and many factors have to be considered. The answer will be different for everyone but this quick checklist of pros and cons of both glasses and contacts should help you make the best decision for you.
Glasses – Pros and Cons
First of all, not all glasses are equal. Chances are that your first encounter with eyewear will be just single vision correction for long or short-sightedness. As time progresses, you may need bifocal or varifocal lenses which are good for both.
Another quick point of order is that glasses are very rarely made of glass these days, but usually a type of hard-wearing plastic (this does not, however, mean they don’t break easily).
#Pros
The first and biggest one is ease. You literally just put them on your face in the morning and you’re good to go. Then there’s maintenance, apart from wiping the lenses there’s not really a lot to do.
You can pick how you want your glasses to look as there are millions of different frame designs. There might be a few restrictions due to lens type, but the rest is up to you and your budget.
Obviously, you’re going to pick something that makes you look sophisticated and intelligent, which can be a very welcome side effect.
#Cons
First of all, and most frustratingly, glasses are surprisingly easy to break or lose. This is especially true if you’re a new glasses wearer. The convenience of being able to put them on and take them off any time you want is balanced with the fact you can remove them and then walk off without putting them back on.
Because they are made of hard-wearing plastic, the lenses are indeed hard to break. However,glasses do have a couple of moving parts that can become loose and break over time.
Glasses also tend to fog up when you move between two environments with different humidities, so watch out next time you go and pick up that takeaway. Also, if you’re the type that regularly takes part in a sport, you are not going to find them the most practical solution.
Contacts – Pros and Cons
Just like glasses, there are different types of contacts from the hard types that you re-use or disposable ones which you throw away at the end of the day. The list of pros and cons here is much shorter and concentrates on just a couple of points.
#Pros
Mainly, there’s the fact that these are actually in your eye, which means they move with your eyes instead of being placed in front of them and are more difficult for you to break or lose (but this is not impossible).
Next, (and this is the biggest upside) they are perfect for sporting or leisure activities. Whether it’s just the traditional hard type or a premium disposable brand providing UV contact lenses, they are considerably more convenient.
#Cons
The downside is all about the maintenance. If you have the reusable type you need to wash them
and store them each evening, something that if done poorly can lead to all sorts of eye infections.
Also, if you don’t like putting your fingers (or anything else) near your eyes, these really aren’t for
you.