<p>Hi all-- D has an eye appt today and I think she really needs contact lenses. She won’t wear her glasses…but she’s afraid of contacts (of putting something in her eye). I had them back when I was her age a million years ago, and they weren’t that hard to deal with then-- I’m betting they’re even easier now. Am I right? Do any of you have kids who were nervous at first and got used to them?</p>
<p>Happykid’s optometrist told me that he had not yet had a motivated teenage female patient who had any trouble whatsoever with contact lenses. The key here is motivation. If she wants it to work, barring any physiological difficulty that would prevent it working, it will work.</p>
<p>I started wearing contacts in 1999. I was ten years old and it was mostly not a problem. I tried them again recently and they were even easier to deal with than they were when I was a kid, it’s now a lot easier to tell if the soft lenses are inside out, which was my problem before and made putting them in a pain. She’ll get used to them as long as she doesn’t psyche herself out too much to relax. </p>
<p>Personally, I kind of think it’s cool when they go in. They feel cold and refreshing going in and then I blink and like magic I can see! And unless it’s just me, you see a lot more clearly through contacts than you do with regular glasses, so that is nice and always the first thing I notice.</p>
<p>I’m just too in love with my glasses to commit to them full time, but like happymom said, if she has the motivation she will be able to do it.</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to get BACK to lenses. They are easy. These old eyes just cant see as well out of them as with glasses. She will love her lenses. Go for it!</p>
<p>Thank you guys! This is definitely a princess and pea situation-- once she gets used to them she’ll love them but for the first couple of times there will be some resistance. If her eyesight was just a little worse, she’d be more motivated. She’s happy enough in her blurry world but every once in a while she’ll admit she can’t see the blackboard!</p>
<p>Make sure that the person that teaches her to put them in has experience in doing so. I’ll never forget the person that my older son had. They tried for probably 20 minutes for him to get them in and finally he gave up, and they won’t let you take them home unless you can get them in. She said, “Darn! You’re the third person who I tried to show how to get lenses in and it wouldn’t work!” Never once did she get someone else to help her and my son was so frustrated he figured he was just not a contact lens person. He is so attractive without his glasses but won’t even go for another contact fitting.</p>
<p>I started wearing contacts when I was 25 (didn’t need glasses full time until I was 21 - thank you computers) after I was sick of rain & fog on my glasses. I was also someone who could never touch their eye, however I was determined to wear them and sat with the tech for nearly an hour to master getting them in/out. As happymom said, if you are motivated you will make it happen. D1 got them when she was 12/13 and never had a problem.</p>
<p>just a recommendation - buy your contacts on line. I find use 1800contacts’ website and find them very helpful. They will even price match another website if you call them and give them the website. Their customer service is wonderful - with 3 contact users, we’ve had a few bad contacts over the year. Just call them up and they ship you replacement lens. Also, if your prescription changes, just send them back the unopened (single, not boxes) lens for credit.</p>
<p>Not sure of her age, but the driver’s license is a big motivator. Our kids are very clear that there is NO CHOICE on this, they are not allowed to drive without their corrective lenses (daily wear contacts for both to them, but both have glasses that can be used in a pinch).</p>
<p>Thank you for great advice on all fronts. I will be sure a competent person helps her…and yes, the driving issue should help. Unfortunately she never wore the the glasses during Drivers Ed! But I insist she wear them now of course.</p>
<p>I started wearing contacts when I was 11. It actually took quite a while, not for them to get me to put them in, but for the contacts to “work”…I have a lazy eye, and the contacts couldn’t get my bad eye to align at first. But after about an hour of sitting in the doctor’s office, it just kinda “snapped” into place, and I have NEVER gone back! (I do wear glasses every once in a while.)</p>
<p>What I find fascinating is that when I first started the contacts, I was blind without glasses. Now, after 8 years of wearing contacts all day every day, I can go a full day without corrective lenses and never even notice!</p>
<p>Been wearing lenses since the very early 80s. Yes, the ones today are much much better! My one piece of advice is this: if your daughter’s eyes react badly (red, itchy, tearing excessively) it could be that she’s allergic to whatever they’re made of. In that case, don’t give up altogether - try other brands/types. Allergies to lenses aren’t common, but they’re not unheard of, either.</p>
<p>Here’s a tip that was given to me when I first got contacts, and it helped my daughter when she got hers.
When putting them in, a lot of people sit down and put a mirror on their lap, and look down. That makes it hard to open your eyes wide, and gravity is against you. Make sure you do it in a mirror looking straight ahead. Much easier.</p>
<p>My daughter has been wearing contacts since eighth grade. She is extremely nearsighted, and she greatly prefers them to glasses. She not only prefers the way she sees without glasses, she finds that her vision is better with contacts. In retrospect, I should have allowed her to get them earlier. She was responsible enough to deal with them by sixth grade, I think.</p>
<p>She got her contacts from a pediatric ophthalmologist whose staff was well known for their excellent teaching ability. The mother of one of her former classmates, who is a school nurse, recommends this eye doctor’s office to many parents because the staff is so good at teaching kids to use contacts successfully and without giving themselves eye infections.</p>
<p>My daughter is graduating from college this spring, and will be working and on her own financially the next time she needs an eye exam (in December). If she can’t afford contacts then, I think I will offer to buy them for her as her Christmas present. They are so important to her.</p>
<p>I, on the other hand, could never get over being squeamish about touching my eyes, and I have never worn contacts.</p>
<p>I agree with LeftyLou with one additional hint (I started in the late 70’s when contacts were hard :-). Stare into the mirror and as the contact lens approaches your eye you look through it (through the sides that poke off your finger). Looking through the lens helps you slide it on your eye easily.</p>
<p>My S2 had similar experience to one of the earlier posters. The person who helped him wasn’t very helpful and he was super nervous. I didn’t think we’d EVER get to leave!</p>
<p>The disposable contacts are so easy. It makes a huge difference in a kids’ self-esteem. Well worth the cost!</p>
<p>Patience is key and in 2-3 days she’ll wonder how it could have ever bothered her.</p>
<p>I’ve been wearing soft contacts since 1970. Hydrophilic contacts are very easy to wear, there is no break in period. Water loves water. Imagine two drops of water on a counter and how easy it is for them to become one. When you put a soft contact on your eye, it practically jumps on.</p>
<p>I prefer contacts to glasses as my peripheral vision is much better. I am very nearsighted, unfortunately so nearsighted that I can’t really see the contact in my hand & they don’t make colors in my prescription. ( they are tinted slightly, but it is very slight).</p>
<p>When I started, you had to make your own saline solution and heat disinfect them every night. PITA. Then I stopped wearing them for years because the solutions had thimerosal as a preservative ( mercury), & I was sensitive to it. However now the solutions are very good, just don’t do what I did & put the hydrogen peroxide in your eye.
It hurts!</p>
<p>S2 first tried contacts in HS, but, like others have said, the person who tried teaching him wasn’t very good so he gave up & he continued to wear glasses until the summer after freshman year in college. We went somewhere else; he was very motivated; and the person teaching him had much more patience. The first few days at home with the new lenses had their ups & downs, but he eventually got the hang of getting them in & out. He’s a happy contact lens wearer now.</p>
<p>I just thought of this reading the other posts.</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone else had this problem, but the first few times I tried to put the contacts in at home, they kept “jumping” out of my eyes, and it frustrated me to tears. I have really long, curling eyelashes, and they were getting in the way. My parents sat with me and coached me through it (this is one thing they can’t do for me, not that they did normally), and now it takes me maybe 2 seconds to pop them in every morning and another 2 seconds to pop them out at night, because I’ve learned how to put them in without my skin/eyelashes getting in the way. I also agree that it doesn’t feel bad/uncomfortable putting them in…just cool and like something is in your eye for maybe two seconds until the lenses settle onto your eye.</p>
<p>My eye doctor was the one who taught me how to put them in. She gave me this piece of advice and it has always helped me: when you’re putting the lenses on your eye, listen for a “pop”. That is the air between your lens and your eye rushing out, and means the lens is on your eye. If I don’t hear the pop, I know it’s not on.</p>
<p>Like everyone else says, be patient. I also found it helpful the first few months to do them at the dining table, because that room had the best light in the house and it was easier for me to see the lenses (to tell if they were right-side-out). But now I don’t even need a mirror to pop them in :)</p>
<p>I will also note (this is very superficial) that I get a lot more compliments on my eyes now than I did when I wore glasses. Blue/green eyes run in my family, and the contacts make me feel that much more self-confident because I don’t have bulky plastic obscuring my eyes (one of my favorite facial features).</p>
<p>Also, if you have allergies, be careful not to rub your eyes too much. I have had the lenses pop out occasionally when my eyes get itchy.</p>
<p>Lastly, if the contacts dry out and get “stuck”–or you have other problems–don’t panic. It’s much harder to get the lenses out if you’re freaking out. </p>
<p>Buy some re-wetting drops…they’re in a little bottle you can carry around in your pocket/purse/backpack/whatever, and they cost less than $5. Great to have if the lenses dry out mid-day and you don’t have glasses with you.</p>
<p>Also, I found it helpful for the first few months to carry a small bottle of saline solution, an empty case, and a spare pair of lenses just in case. I probably still should, but I just never have problems with them. </p>
<p>I’ve worn some form of eyewear my entire life…when I was 14 months (yes, months) old they put me on an eye patch to help my “bad” (lazy) eye work harder, then glasses after that, then contacts starting in 6th grade. My eye doctor tells me every time I see her (I’ve had the same one since before I started the contacts) that she’s thrilled with how much I progressed and that if I get much better she may take me off the contacts and just have glasses for reading/driving.</p>
<p>“as the contact lens approaches your eye you look through it (through the sides that poke off your finger). Looking through the lens helps you slide it on your eye easily.”</p>
<p>– 30 years of wearing contacts and I never heard this before! Will definitely try it, not that I have trouble getting them in. Thanks for the great sounding tip.</p>
<p>This has turned into a great thread-- thank you everyone for all the tips! D has new glasses…after the optometrist finally managed to get a drop into her eye she said-- “I wouldn’t recommend contacts for you right now.” :)</p>
<p>Remember that your finger doesn’t touch your eye - the lens does. There is a huge difference and the lens touching the eye feels nothing like a finger touching it. In fact, there is barely a touch at all - the lens are almost sucked onto the moist eye. With practice, you know just how wet they need to be to jump onto your eye. </p>
<p>I have found that I am better at putting them in without a mirror at all. It is a good skill to have if you have to replace one and there is no mirror around.</p>