<p>My husband is finally admitting that he needs glasses, but thinks he might prefer contacts. Can someone give me an idea of how much basic contacts might cost? He would just need them for far vision, like when he is driving. I realize that there are many kinds but we’re looking for an average price as he is trying to figure out overall medical expenses for the year for the family.</p>
<p>Has he been getting eye exams?
Usually as people age their eyes become more farsighted not less- but if he only needs them for distance it seems glasses would be much more convienent.
YOu can get glasses anywhere from about $100 and up, I paid $170 for ultra high index lenses with scratch and anti reflective coating and frames at Costco.
I wear disposable contacts and they are about $25 a box- lots of places to get them online one you have prescription.</p>
<p>No, he hasn’t had an eye exam for quite a while, but has let his family do his distance sign reading for years when we drive together. He has no problem with reading. I agree about the convience of glasses but he’s never worn them and thinks they would be awkward to get used to. $25 a box? Is that for disposable?</p>
<p>kathie, even if he thinks he’ll prefer contacts, he’ll need a pair of glasses, too. You shouldn’t wear contacts ALL the time, which I’m sure his eye doctor will tell him. Two of my Ds wear disposable contacts, which last about a month, and they vary in price depending where you buy them. I think the cost of the ones they get is about $200/year but that may be different where you live.</p>
<p>There are different kinds of contacts and sometimes it takes some trial and error to find the right kind for you. I’ve never used them because I just need reading glasses (so far!) but over the years my H tried a few different kinds and had success with some and less with others. Then he had LASIK done and doesn’t need any!</p>
<p>I’ve been wearing contacts 16 hours a day for the last 23 years, for near-sightedness. I have the soft kind that you take out at night, and they are very comfortable. You are supposed to wear them for one month and then dispose, but I’ve found that I can easily wear them for two to three months with no problems. Apparently my eyes don’t make a lot of protein, which is what causes the contacts to wear out quickly, according to my eye doctor. I agree that your H will want to have a pair of glasses on hand, as well as contacts. There have been times when I’ve woken up with pink eye (conjunctivitis) which means no contacts that day, and times (especially in low-humidity areas) when I’ve just been tired of contacts. But generally, I wear them day in , day out with no problem. I buy my contacts through my eye doctor’s office, which might be more expensive. I generally buy a year’s worth (24 lenses) and pay around $240. There are many types of overnight/cleaning solutions, so he might need some trial/error with those, as well as with types of contacts. Good luck to him!</p>
<p>The price depends on what type of contacts you get, where you buy them and the prescription needed.</p>
<p>My daughter uses daily contacts. We get them at Costco and they are about $100 for 3 months. Sometimes more, or less. When they run promos on them, I buy more. (Since she is 16 I don’t buy too many at a time, her vision has gotten worse each year.)</p>
<p>alwaysamom, Good point about needing glasses for back up. I wore contacts for a few years and remember taking them off every night and putting on my glasses to watch tv. Now I just wear glasses. It does sound like there is a wide range of prices for contacts just as I suspected.</p>
<p>Only soft lenses have been mentioned, so I’ll put in a word for the other camp. I’ve been wearing hard contacts for 35 years. (Now they’re “rigid gas-permeable” lenses.) I wear them from the moment I get up until the moment I go to bed. I have a pair of glasses somewhere but can’t stand to wear them because my vision is so much worse with them. I’m very nearsighted, and now I have age-related problems reading fine print, as well. I now have trifocal contacts (near vision, distance vision, and mid-range vision). There is no sharp border between the regions and I am not aware of making transitions between them. My vision is excellent at all distances; in fact, recently some people who are almost 20 years younger were shocked that I could easily read small print that they couldn’t read. </p>
<p>I use my lenses for several years. They cost about $400 a pair, but that includes the fitting by a superb optometrist.</p>
<p>Another cost that our optometrist has is a fitting fee of $200. For the first year you have the cost of the contacts themselves and the cost from the drs. for fitting them. Personally I think that the fitting fee is a bunch of hooey but whatever.</p>
<p>Kathiep,</p>
<p>Both my daughter and I wear soft contact lens and I recently ordered some for both of us. My daughter’s are monthly disposables and cost $100 for a 6-month supply (she has an astigmatism) and mine are daily wear that I take out and clean overnight ($80 for one pair that last a year, which can be stretched to 1 1/2 years).</p>
<p>I went from no glasses to bifocals at age 40. I tried contacts and hated them since I had never used them…until age 40. I now use varifocal glasses and would never consider anything else.</p>
<p>I wear a very breathable soft lens that I wear Night and Day (they are called Night and Day, actually). I don’t take them out for a month. I then throw them away and put in a new pair. I never wear glasses and don’t even have a pair with a current prescription. I sleep in the lenses- they are amazing. I forget what they cost, but it didn’t seem like much to me.</p>
<p>I just had a visit to the optometrist’s, as I needed new contacts/glasses for college. I got a year’s supply of contacts (new pair every month…can EASILY be stretched to every 6-7 weeks), plus one extra set in case I lose/rip one for $99. Frames were $200 (not all that expensive for nice frames…most were in the $130-175 range) </p>
<p>To summarize… a year’s supply of contacts + a month, including fitting along with lenses and frames, plus the cost of the basic exam, minus insurance and a $200 credit on our account brought the cost down to a highly affordable $40. Had I opted for the cheap frames ($40-80) we would still have credit on our account…haha.</p>
<p>Do the soft contacts come in trifocal?</p>
<p>Cheers, I don’t believe that soft contacts can be trifocal. I believe that much more can be done, in general, with rigid lenses. But I’m not an expert, only a satisfied user, and I could be wrong about this.</p>
<p>I’ve heard of people wearing one contact for far vision and a different Rx contact for near vision. Apparently the eyes adjust to it and the vision is not blurry. It seems like it would give one a massive headache, but people say it works. I might try it when I get far-sighted, which could be any month now since I’m 43… :(</p>
<p>I wear progressive lens glasses and was told by my optometrist that it would be able to fit me with them in contacts (don’t know if she meant soft or gas permeable) but that it would be trial and error finding ones that fit just right. Sounded like too much trouble to me.
Overseas, is that what varifocal glasses are - progressive lens glasses where there are three distance corrections, or are you talking about contacts?</p>
<p>momof2inca, I wore two different lenses (near and far vision) for several years in my mid-40s. It works surprisingly well. The optometrist told me that this could be done only for a few years; for some reason it doesn’t work if you are too old. The advantage is that the lenses are much cheaper than the bi- or tri-focal lenses.</p>
<p>I should mention that I am very, very near-sighted (and now have age-related far-sightedness). I find it amazing that my vision can be corrected so exquisitely.</p>
<p>I wear two different lenses for near and far vision and it works perfectly. The only time I need reading glasses is in very low light levels or late at night when my eyes are tired. Both my sister and I adjusted immediately to this vision correction.</p>