How to Choose Between Contacts and Glasses

glasses options

Contacts or Glasses? If you need to improve your declining vision and have otherwise healthy eyes, deciding whether to go with contacts or a pair of glasses can be an important decision. The decision mostly boils down to your personal preference and lifestyle.

On one hand, you may not want to continuously adjust your glasses throughout the day. On the other, you may not want to deal with the constant need to order new contacts. If you are unsure, here are a few pros and cons of wearing either contacts or glasses.

Why Choose Glasses

First, let’s discuss some positive aspects of wearing glasses.

  • • Glasses can be considerably personalized.
  • • They come in a wide variety of colors, frames, and shapes.
  • • The pick-up-and-go convenience of glasses can also be a bonus.
  • • Your lenses-whether bifocal, trifocal, or progressive-can be adjusted to meet your vision’s corrective needs.

Our staff at Olde Towne Optical are experts at finding the best glasses for you.

glasses

Here’s a rundown of the negative aspects of wearing glasses, which can vary depending on your day-to-day activities.

  • • Thick frames can impair peripheral vision. Some lenses, depending on the strength of the prescription, can also affect it as well.
  • • Glasses are sometimes prone to slip down the bridge of your nose during vigorous activity or exercise, causing them to fall from your face.
  • • Another downside is that they might irritate the bridge.
  • • Impaired vision could be a problem during weather and temperature changes if your lenses are splattered with water or transition quickly between hot and cold environments.
  • • Glasses can also become fogged when wearing a face covering.
  • • And frankly, some people don’t like the look of glasses for cosmetic reasons.

Why Choose Contacts

Although contacts have not been around quite as long as glasses, opinions, both positive and negative, are just as plentiful.

Some positives of wearing contacts include the following.

  • • Many contact lens wearers say they feel more natural than glasses.
  • • Contacts conform to the shape of your eye.
  • • Contacts can even be custom fit to your eyes.
  • • Some types allow you to wear them daily or overnight.
  • • Other pluses to note are that contacts move with your eyes, do not impair vision, and allow you to perform vigorous tasks without much fear of losing them.   

contact lenses

However, there are also some negatives.

  • • It may be difficult putting them into the eyes. There may also be a learning curve to become skilled at inserting and removing them.
  • • Because you are placing a foreign object directly on your eye, contacts also require more attention to detail than glasses.
  • • They must be cleaned and sterilized often or you could risk infection.
  • • Contacts have to be replaced much more often than glasses, even if you wear a type that allows extended wear.

Wearing glasses or contacts is largely a personal choice, but one that should not be taken lightly.  Remember to consider your lifestyle, environment, maintenance, and vision requirements when choosing a corrective option.

If you need new glasses or contacts, please call The Eye Center, with locations in Huntsville and Madison, at 256-705-3937.

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