I've worn glasses most of my life and I'm finally tired of it. I'm going to attempt contacts. I have a real hard time touching my eyes, but I really want contacts. If I go through with it, the first thing I'm going to do is buy a pair of those wrap-around sunglasses that I've wanted for years.

For those of you with non-20/20 vision, do you prefer glasses or contacts? Have any of you had corrective surgery? If so, what procedure did you have and what were the after effects of the whole process?

 

I have not had the surgery but really want to in the future. My personal preference is contacts, I use soft contact lenses or disposables. Never really cared for glasses...

 

I had corrective surgery about 8 years ago. Best thing I ever did. Had a couple friends that have had it done also. They love it. Best money ever spent. It's come a long way since I had mine done. There are some drawbacks and risks involved. You should do a search on Corrective eye surgery to see what some of the procedures are.

Contacts are good and cheap but can cause damage if not cleaned and taken care of. Also if you get something in your eye while your hands are dirty it can turn bad quick. I wore contacts for years and now my eyes tear up at random times (random dryness). This happened before I had corrective surgery and one of the reasons I got the surgery. Think now they put in tear-duct tubes to make sure your eyes stay moist.

 

I am probably in the minority, but I actually prefer my glasses over contacts. I get a better correction with glasses(I could never get 20/20 with contacts), and my eyes are sensitive, so whenever I got the slightest bit of dust/etc. in my eyes, I had problems when wearing contacts.

I would like to get the surgery, and I know the risk of something going wrong is low. However, with my luck, I would be the one that gets blinded from the procedure

 

Well, I cannot honestly say that I've had contacts before. On the other hand, I love my glasses. I've had a few incidents where they break or almost break, but I really like them. Besides, they've really been with my personality and appearence for a long time. I'm one of those people where I think it actually makes me even better looking than I previously was. Anyway, I've gotten frustrated with the breaking of them occasionally, but I don't think that would be a good trade in for eye irritation at the drop of a hat. I have sensitive eyes as it is anyway, so I think it's smart for me to stick with the spectacles. Us Irish can't take much in the way of eye irritation.

Ryan

 

I've worn contact for goodness....21 years! First year was a little rough on the eyes. But once I got used to them, they were fine. I've tried so many kinds, and I find the disposable ones much more care free. I take them out everynight, and in the morning I put them back in. I can even sleep with them on occasion as long as I use rewetting drops. After a month of use, you can throw them away. (Now that got some getting used to) I rarely wear my glasses. One day I would like to get the surgery done. I've heard good things from family members and friends who have had it done.

 

i've worn contacts for about 5yrs and i love them. The best thing to do is just suck it up and touch your eye. before i wore contacts even watching someone put in eye drops would make my eyes water. but now contacts are nothing, i hope to get the surgery asap

 

I'm extremely near-sighted, and I've worn contacts for over 20 years. I resisted getting them for a long time because I was scared to death to put anything in my eye, but my optometrist kept telling me I'd be a great candidate for contacts. In fact, he sent me to the opthamology clinic at a local hospital to be fitted (the exam was about 3 hours), and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. My eyeglass lenses are extremely thick, making them too heavy (I'm legally blind without corrective lenses). Always sliding down my noise (especially in the summer), or always fogging up in the winter. I did freak out the first time I put one of the lenses in, but once I got used to it, it was a piece of cake. What surprised me most was the IMPROVEMENT in my vision with contacts; I was prepared to give up some sharpness in return for not having to wear glasses.

My doctor has recommended I stay away from the surgery as he feels too many people that have done it have had to give up "near vision," forcing them to wear reading glasses when they didn't need them before the surgery. It seems to be an ever-improving technology, so I'm waiting a while to see if they can perfect it a little further. But if you're near-sighted, I DEFINITELY recommend contacts!

 

Been there, done that. When I got my contacts I celebrated by getting a pair of Oakley Zero wrap around sunglasses. What an awesome feeling. I wear both all my life. They're both a pain. (Remember hard contacts??...That scared me away from contacts unil my early 20's.) I wish I could afford the laser eye surgery. No scalpels for me. Too many horror stories of successful surgeries going downhill after wards. I would not want to loose my sight. I think Tiger Woods had his corrective eye surgery done here in Tulsa??...Glasses are expensive and need replacing every few years. Contacts are nice but need more constant replacement and maintenance which = $$$$$$. I can't wear my contacts for more than a day and by the end of the day my eyes are red and all the dust and crud in the air has accumulated on my contacts. The rewetting drops help, but don't get all that stuff out of my eyes.

 

I wore glasses since I was 5, and last year got the LASIK. I had tried hard contacts in 1986 and soft toric lenses in 1997 - neither was very comfortable. I had bottle bottom glasses - big time astigmatism and near-sighted (20-400 in one eye). The contact lenses were just too thick, and with astigmatism they have to stay centered AND right-side up. My vision was much better with glasses.

I had LASIK last September - all the latest advances. Wave-front computer modeling and even the flap was laser-cut. My right eye is the poster boy for LASIK - almost 20-10. I'm 46, and my near-vision is great in that eye. Unfortunately, my left eye has been a pain. The first procedure left me about 20-40 (not bad considering it was 20-400), but always dry and scratchy. After waiting 7 months, I got an enhancement. It's been 7 weeks, and some days it's 20-20. It's better, but fades in and out, and my near-vision is kaput.

It's been pretty cool to wear designer shades, and now my goggles never fog up while I'm skiing. That alone is worth it to me. But I think I lost about 10 years of decent near-vision. Plus, for me it took about 3 months to start seeing good.

Good luck with whatever choice you make. Don't get talked into mono-vision LASIK (one eye for near, one eye for far). Hopefully you don't have to travel too far if you want to go with LASIK.

 

I cannot stand anything in my eyes. Glasses for me. I've been quite lucky.
I had 20/15 vision in each eye until well into my 40s. My youngest son and I were playing, (he was a toddler) he reached up and scratched my right eye.
The eyedrops that the doctor gave me were the wrong prescription. (My opthamologist was out of town.)

I now have a 'haze' over my right eye (similar to cataracts) and they can't do anything about it, right now, surgically, so, to correct for the haziness, I have glasses. My left eye is still 20/20, and I'm 51.
To add to it, I have to put drops in each eye at night.. . . . Glaucoma.

My wife had the LASIK about 4 years ago. She's worn coke bottle bottom glasses since she was 10.
After the surgery, on the way home, she was reading license plates off of trucks and cars that I couldn't even see!!!!

 

I wear glasses and have contacts. I usually only wear the contacts when im doing something like playing hockey, snowmobiling , or going to the beach. THey are Ok, but i find it to be a PITA to clean and look after them.

 

I wore contacts for years, never had any problems except for the hassle of cleaning them. Then I switched to disposables, all was good untill I fell asleep with them on one time. One fell out and the other felt like it was stuck to me eye. I had to go to the ER, because it was a Sunday and no Dr's offices were open. Well, it turned out I must have rubbed out the contacts while I was asleep and ended up scratching my cornea. Had to wear an eye patch for a couple of days, not fun looking like a pirate. Switched back to glasses, but I do miss the contacts, they actually corrected my vision better than 20/20.

 

I tried contacts through high school, into college. Started working night shift and going to college in the morning, worked in a chemical plant so no contacts allowed, had to wear safety glasses anyway. I had a lot of trouble trying to pry my eyes open long enough to get the contacts in, and then had trouble with them all day since I was usually really tired. I accidentally stuck my last pair together one afternoon after getting home, and said screw it....I've worn glasses ever since. I'd like to try Lasiks sometime, no big hurry....still have to wear glasses at work anyway and I'm pretty well used to them.

 

I got Coke-bottle-bottom glasses when I was 3. I wore those until I was 10, when my eye doc switched me to gas-permeable contacts (very similar to hard lenses). Those were too thick, and I developed sores on my eyes after a couple years, then switched to soft lenses, eventually disposables. Then, when I was about 21, I went back to glasses, which also meant better correction--I was having problems passing the vision test for my driver's license with contacts. As a painter, I can't imagine going back to contacts, as I do quite a bit of spraying and get plenty of junk in my eyes. Fortunately, my eyes are not very sensitive to that. I would like to get surgery at some point, but it still just costs too much, and I would like to see the technology advance and be better tested long-term.

I hope you can make an appropriate decision, 88GM.

Jason