When do people give up on wearing contact lenses?

[ncbill]

Gave up soft contact lenses after college...just switched back to glasses.

Twenty years ago I finally went for LASIK.

 

[Car-Guy]

Never wore contact lens but I've needed glasses since my early 20's... By the time I was ~40 I needed bifocals... There is no way I could have passed my states driver license test without glasses since I was ~25... Then in my early 60's, I noticed I that I was starting to see better and better as time passed. . Matter of fact, when I took my driver license test in my mid 60's I passed w/o glasses. Now in my early 70's all's I need is reading glasses with very small print. So there is hope for "some of us" as we get older that you may not need glass/contacts or surgery to correct our vision. I was told by an optometrist that what happened to me is not "that" unusual.

 

[Act2]

I have been wearing contacts on and off, mostly on, since about age 14; lately though I have been wearing glasses only and cannot tolerate my RGP multi-focal lenses. Contacts do provide superior vision for me. Hope not to have to give them up but it does seem the eyes are drier than before. I’m 63.

 

[Amethyst]

I was also 63 when I had to give up my wonderful RGP multi-focals for disposable toric soft lenses. The hardest part about the new soft toric lenses is that they are huge, and difficult to remove. Need to use lots of solution and look UP when flipping the lenses out of my eyes.

Another annoying thing about my lenses is that they are "monthly" disposables, so they pick up a lot of protein from my eyes, creating haziness well before the "monthly disposal" date. There is no way to clean them, as you can with RGPs.

Finally, soft lenses cannot yet be made multi-focal, so I need readers to see close up. Unlike some lucky people, I can't tolerate monofocals with different focal lengths for each eye. Gotta have each eye corrected for distance.

I have been wearing contacts on and off, mostly on, since about age 14; lately though I have been wearing glasses only and cannot tolerate my RGP multi-focal lenses. Contacts do provide superior vision for me. Hope not to have to give them up but it does seem the eyes are drier than before. I’m 63.

 

[Dawg52]

I have been wearing (gas permeable) contacts since age 19. Lately, about every 3 or 4 days, I have a glasses day, and not bother with them.

So, my question is, at what age do you think people give up on contact lenses and just wear glasses?


.

I wore gas permeable too in my 20's-30's then when I reached my early 40's they would pop out due to my eyes being dry. I gave up and switched to glasses at that point.

 

[big-papa]

I have been wearing (gas permeable) contacts since age 19. Lately, about every 3 or 4 days, I have a glasses day, and not bother with them.

So, my question is, at what age do you think people give up on contact lenses and just wear glasses?

Yeah, I know that if I have cataract surgery some day, they may can fix my vision. And, I am chicken (and too cheap) to get the laser correction.

I gave up about 15 years ago. Was playing a lot of golf at the time and it was very difficult to remove the lenses after a day on the course as my eyes would dry out. I wear glasses these days to drive and I use readers for things like this message post.

Cheers,
Big-Papa

 

[Librarian]

Had to give them up late 40s

I have been wearing (gas permeable) contacts since age 19. Lately, about every 3 or 4 days, I have a glasses day, and not bother with them.

So, my question is, at what age do you think people give up on contact lenses and just wear glasses?

Yeah, I know that if I have cataract surgery some day, they may can fix my vision. And, I am chicken (and too cheap) to get the laser correction.

And it was a tough one as my eyes are better corrected with lenses than glasses due to keratoconus. (also why I can't get laser surgery, darnit!)

But as we age, the lenses of our eyes harden, making it harder to fit lenses.

I have cousins who got laser surgery years ago & said it was the best thing they ever did. Wish I could!

 

[tenant13]

I had to start wearing glasses at around 10 and for some reason I absolutely loved it. Then in my 20's I decided that glasses made me look dorky and I would get laid more wearing contacts. I switched but I'm not really sure if it made a huge difference. Once I stopped caring about my... social life, I went back to glasses. And I like them as much as I used to when I was a kid. I think that cool frames are like jewelry so I treat myself to something new every year or so.

 

[sroby2020]

Gave them up for RK

I started wearing contacts going into college and after about 10 years I gave them up because the blood vessels in my eye were changing ro compensate for the contacts. I was told that was not good. A few years later, I had RK eye surgury (way before Lasik). At about 46, I had to start with reading glasses. After 31 years, my RK is still pretty good, but I still wear reading glasses.

 

[Pointby2]

As long as I'm physically active and/or running on a regular basis I'll continue to wear contacts. Hopefully until I'm 70 or 80.

 

[11522914]

I've worn contacts fulltime since I was 18. I do monovision with 30 day disposables. Will usually give my eyes an overnight rest on day 15 but many times have worn the full 30 days.

With monovision you always have to give up a little on either long distance, intermediate or reading. I choose reading because I can just hold it 12 inches away and I'm fine.

I see pretty much 20/20 and never wear glasses. I'm 62. Love my contacts and hope to never have to wear glasses.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I got hard contacts at 16, RK surgery at 29 which started to go south in my early 40's. Started wearing soft contacts and the blood vessels started growing inward so found Marshall B Ketchum school of Optometry. They custom fitted me for RGP lenses and got me back to 20/20 and 20/10 vision which is far crisper than it was with soft contacts. I was told eventually I'd need reading glasses which I've worn over the contacts for the last 5 years or so. My contacts reshape my eyes to give me my vision, there is no prescription for glasses that can fix my uneven corneas. The bottom line is I will never give up my contacts because there is no other option at this time. I wear them from the moment I get up to when I go to bed and it's very hard to watch TV in bed due to my double vision and shadows. I have figured out if I tilt my head at a certain angle when laying down, I can see pretty good though. If I don't have my contacts I might as well shoot myself, I'd be effectively blind and I couldn't live like that. I'm 64 right now and it takes me less than a minute to pop my lenses in and out.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I started wearing glasses when I was 7. I got my first contacts when I was 21. I haven’t worn contacts for about 8 years. I have progressive kens and also a pair for reading music and computer screens.

My myopia counteracts the presbyopia so I can see very well up close, which I love. I’d rather take my glasses off to read fine print than put them on to read any print.

 

[67walkon]

I'm 73. Started wearing hard contacts at age 14. Due to an eye injury, I had an implant lens in one eye about 35 years ago and then the other eye a few years later. They didn't get it perfect and I still need some correction.

I still wear the gas permeable contacts but not all the time. If I'm going anywhere, I wear contacts. If I'm sitting around at home, I wear classes. I don't really have any issues with the contacts except my personal laziness.

 

[Retired Expat]

I always say I got cataracts for my 50th birthday well in on eye but the other was close behind. Getting the surgery and the implanted lenses was great! Insurance wouldn’t cover the multi focal lens so that was out of pocket. I could never adjust to the multi focal contacts so choice was wear contacts and have reading glasses and computer glasses or just glasss with multi focal so chose those. Tended to leave the others behind all the time….

 

[Sunset]

Never wore contact lens but I've needed glasses since my early 20's... By the time I was ~40 I needed bifocals... There is no way I could have passed my states driver license test without glasses since I was ~25... Then in my early 60's, I noticed I that I was starting to see better and better as time passed. . Matter of fact, when I took my driver license test in my mid 60's I passed w/o glasses. Now in my early 70's all's I need is reading glasses with very small print. So there is hope for "some of us" as we get older that you may not need glass/contacts or surgery to correct our vision. I was told by an optometrist that what happened to me is not "that" unusual.

I was told when that happens, it means I'm developing cataracts and it's all great until they go cloudy...

 

[SecondCor521]

I'm 53 now. I started wearing glasses due to myopia in 4th grade and my vision has gradually worsened since then. I started getting an astigmatism in one eye, then the other, about ten years ago. I started getting presbyopia a few years ago, and that's gradually getting worse. I saw the eye doctor a week ago and he diplomatically said without saying that I am probably starting in the early stages of cataracts.

Day in, day out I wear glasses. They are the most precise for me in terms of the prescription. On vacation sometimes I'll wear contact lenses, which are basic -7.5 or -8.0 soft disposables. I think the contact lenses tend to physically correct the astigmatism. I also think the eye with the worse astigmatism makes wearing a lens in that eye more uncomfortable than the other eye. The lens feels "wrinkly" in that eye; the other eye is pretty much completely comfortable.

I've thought about RK and LASIK since they have been around. But they are not for me; even with all the drawbacks and issues with glasses, I'm not personally willing to risk the (unlikely but possibly serious) downsides of eye surgery. Because I am so nearsighted, there is also the possibility of (a) not being corrected to 20/20 and still wearing glasses, or (b) getting corrected but requiring subsequent touchups. Both of those would be "failures" to me.

My Dad is 86 and had cataract surgery last year. I get the impression that nearly everyone who makes it to that age has cataracts and gets them fixed. And my understanding is that you can have corrective lenses implanted which should get you to 20/20 (or close). So I think people wearing contact lenses in their 80s would be rare simply because they could just have corrective cataract surgery instead.

 

[camfused]

I had to start wearing glasses at around 10 and for some reason I absolutely loved it. Then in my 20's I decided that glasses made me look dorky and I would get laid more wearing contacts. I switched but I'm not really sure if it made a huge difference. Once I stopped caring about my... social life, I went back to glasses. And I like them as much as I used to when I was a kid. I think that cool frames are like jewelry so I treat myself to something new every year or so.

Well, did you get laid more with contacts?

 

[ElizabethT]

I've been wearing soft contact lenses for 27 years, and can't imagine going back solely to glasses due to the freedom of having nothing on my face that contacts afford.

It took me about six months to get comfortable with putting them on and getting them off. And about same for my eyes to stop turning red.

I now have mono lenses, which took me about a week to get used to. I much enjoy not having to keep reading glasses around, and that I can switch out whatever sunglasses I care or need to use (fashion vs. sport performance) without concern.

I wear monthly disposables, usually for about 12 hours a day, and hope to wear them for as long as I'm agile enough to keep popping them on and off. Currently about to turn 60.

 

[bobandsherry]

I made my decision for no contacts back in my 40s when I had Lasik.

And then as I neared 60 I had to have cataract surgery. I went with multi-focal lens and now my peepers are like new. [emoji39]

 

[MarieIG]

Let's see. In senior year of college (undergrad) DS #1 made an appearance - with colic. I had no idea that a baby could scream unceasingly for what seemed like weeks at a time (unless he was either in the ER or pediatrician's office when he would mysteriously clam up and get a perfect bill of health) and due to lack of sleep, my eyes shrank to tiny, irritated, red, pea-like objects which would slam shut at the approach of a contact lense. More school, more babies, more work - I didn't return to the contacts. I've had lasik twice, which improved my vision somewhat, but did not eliminate my need for glasses.

 

[ncbill]

I'm 53 now. I started wearing glasses due to myopia in 4th grade and my vision has gradually worsened since then. I started getting an astigmatism in one eye, then the other, about ten years ago. I started getting presbyopia a few years ago, and that's gradually getting worse. I saw the eye doctor a week ago and he diplomatically said without saying that I am probably starting in the early stages of cataracts.

Day in, day out I wear glasses. They are the most precise for me in terms of the prescription. On vacation sometimes I'll wear contact lenses, which are basic -7.5 or -8.0 soft disposables. I think the contact lenses tend to physically correct the astigmatism. I also think the eye with the worse astigmatism makes wearing a lens in that eye more uncomfortable than the other eye. The lens feels "wrinkly" in that eye; the other eye is pretty much completely comfortable.

I've thought about RK and LASIK since they have been around. But they are not for me; even with all the drawbacks and issues with glasses, I'm not personally willing to risk the (unlikely but possibly serious) downsides of eye surgery. Because I am so nearsighted, there is also the possibility of (a) not being corrected to 20/20 and still wearing glasses, or (b) getting corrected but requiring subsequent touchups. Both of those would be "failures" to me.

My Dad is 86 and had cataract surgery last year. I get the impression that nearly everyone who makes it to that age has cataracts and gets them fixed. And my understanding is that you can have corrective lenses implanted which should get you to 20/20 (or close). So I think people wearing contact lenses in their 80s would be rare simply because they could just have corrective cataract surgery instead.

Not that big a deal...I was -8 in both eyes but with little astigmatism when I had LASIK nearly two decades ago.

One eye 'rebounded' so I had a followup LASIK done on it at no add'l charge close to a year later.

It turned out to be my best eye...the other ended up around 20/30 (no followup unless it were to get worse than 20/50)...still don't need reading glasses.

And I will never have to worry about bifocals...I'll just buy reading glasses at retail.

Some days when I go outside I still marvel at the clarity of my vision...before, w/o glasses everything was just colored blobs.

Best $3,000 (all inclusive) I ever spent.

 

[pdxgal]

Omni, thanks for sharing that interesting info. I didn't realize RGP lenses actually allow more oxygen to the eyes, and that they may help prevent cataracts. I too have been wearing them since my teen years, and I'm 60.

My ophthalmologist joked that among her patients that wear them, she'd have to pry the RGP lenses out of their cold dead hands before they'd give them up! That's how I feel. The RGPs correct my astigmatism and extreme nearsightedness, are easy to care for and relatively cheap. Glasses wouldn't correct my vision as well, plus they bug me on many other levels. I do now need to wear readers a lot, which is bad enough. I don't switch between (prescription) glasses and contacts because it takes too long for my depth perception to adjust.

So my answer to OP's question is "hopefully never"

 

[pdxgal]

Not that big a deal...I was -8 in both eyes but with little astigmatism when I had LASIK nearly two decades ago.

Interesting.... I'm also -8 in both eyes and looked into LASIK about 15 years ago when my insurer offered a discounted rate (they must've calculated it was cheaper long term than paying for glasses). The doc told me I wasn't a good candidate since my cornea was too thin, IIRC. Maybe that was due to my astigmatism? Anyway, it was a bit of a bummer, but c'est la vie.

Happy for you that your LASIK was such a success. It WOULD be wonderful to see clearly without having to depend on glasses or contacts.

 

[Pellice]

Have worn glasses since childhood, but never contacts. I was alway spooked by touching my eyes. Hate the annual eye exam.