Contact lenses - whether and when?

[Anonymous]

My 12 y/o dd has been asking us for contact lenses, and says that by this age, most of the people in her grade (7th) are wearing them.

I'm hesitant mostly because I am worried about her getting an eye infection (we had an adult friend a few years ago who needed a corneal transplant due to contact lens-based infection).

Does anyone know what the current risks and rates of infection are? How to know whether a kid is ready for lenses? What age most kids start wearing them? Tips for success? I'd be very grateful for all advice.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

We waited until EXTREMELY responsible DD was a freshman in HS, got daily wear (no need to clean them and if one gets ripped its much less expensive to throw away) and we have taken her in for extra eye checks. Everything has been going fine so far. Her eye dr said that we were smart to wait and that our DD is very compliant (more than most of his teen patients. Many of his teen patients who aren't or who don't wear daily contacts because they don't want them have had trouble.) FWIW Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

I'm on the other end of the spectrum. My DD has them and is in 6th grade. In our case my DD was really pushing for them because she didn't want to wear glasses, plus she participates in a number of sports and having contacts makes it easier.

She has 30-day contacts you have to take them out and clean them each day - which is super easy - totally different than what I remembered as a kid. She starts with a fresh pair each month. Our eye plan will replace any that get ripped or lost for free. She is very diligent with it because she really wanted them. Plus she is the type of kid that when she gets motivated to do something she sticks with it. The first two weeks I watched her clean them and put them in and made sure she took them off at night.

[Anonymous]

I agree with pp, your child has to be responsible, mine is 14YO and he got them in November, he has to change them every two weeks and take them off every night, so far so good. The first two weeks were hard but now he is an expert.

[Anonymous]

I was 11 and in 6th grade when I got mine- I was a very responsible kid and never had any issues until high school when I got a bit more lazy with cleaning etc.

[Anonymous]

I used to work for an optometrist - specifically with those who were getting contacts. I think the youngest kid I worked with was 8. It all depends on the maturity of the child. They need to understand how big a responsibility it is and what it means if they don't follow the instructions (eye infection, corneal injury, etc). Dailies (wear 1 day then throw out) are obviously the easiest, but are the most expensive. Other types require cleaning each night in order to remove protein build up that occurs during the day and to prevent infection.

[Anonymous]

I got mine in sixth grade. This was in the old days when you had to boil them every night. Never had any problems.

[Anonymous]

DD got hers when she was 10. I would give her a B in resonsibility ranking. Her pediatrician actually told me that we shouldn't get them for her until she is showing responsibility by keeping her room clean. If we waited that long, I don't know if we would have ever gotten them for her! She plays a lot of sports, and as a lens wearer myself, I know what a pain that is with glasses, so I was willing to get them for her. Because of infection concerns, we got her daily wears, which cost a lot more, but I was willing to splurge. She's 14 now. We have been happy with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 12 y/o dd has been asking us for contact lenses, and says that by this age, most of the people in her grade (7th) are wearing them.

I'm hesitant mostly because I am worried about her getting an eye infection (we had an adult friend a few years ago who needed a corneal transplant due to contact lens-based infection).

Does anyone know what the current risks and rates of infection are? How to know whether a kid is ready for lenses? What age most kids start wearing them? Tips for success? I'd be very grateful for all advice.

Thanks!

Hear a report on NPR this morning that literally 99 percent (they did a survey) of people don't handle their lenses hygenically.

Sleep in them and you have a 1 in 1,000 chance of a corneal ulcer (been there, done that, it's really painful).

Fail to clean the solution and you end up with bacteria in your container that cannot be removed easily.

Use water and you could get an amoeba that makes you blind.

Yes, 99 percent of people do ONE OR MORE OF ALL OF THESE THINGS apparently.

I'd stick to glasses.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, I got my first pair in 5th or 6th grade back in the 80's. They were rigid gas permeable. I learned to take care of them properly and never had any undue problems. My mypoia was pretty impressive even back then, and they were a Godsend for me, especially when it came to sports.

[Anonymous]

I started wearing contacts in 7th or 8th grade because I kept breaking my glasses while playing soccer. I never had problems taking care of them and have always loved wearing them. It helped that my parents and older siblings wore contacts as well so I was familiar with the nightly ritual of taking them out and cleaning them.

[Anonymous]

I got my contacts in sixth grade. I think you should give your daughter a chance with them, if she does not handle them properly you can always put her back in glasses all the time. Make sure she is putting on her glasses though after school or in the evening so her eyes can breathe.

[Anonymous]

My ds got contacts in 6th grade. As long as you feel your dd is somewhat responsible, I would go for it. The risks are minimal if used with proper care. One thing I would watch out for though is her sleeping in her contacts, as a lot of teens will do this and that's where the danger can start.

[Anonymous]

Above poster is an idiot. Definitely do NOT let your daughter have contacts. The risks are not "minimal"; they are in fact quite serious and until your dd is at least in high school, I wouldn't even consider it. At such a young age, they are bound to sleep in them for weeks on end.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks, everyone, for your info. Her dad and I decided to hold off for a while. DD has a few other things going on right now that are requiring lots of responsibility; no sense adding something optional to that load.

I, too, heard the NPR report and decided that when we do let her have them, we'll go for daily throwaways. New corneas are more expensive than daily contacts, I'm pretty sure.

For those of you who are more contact-experienced than I: are the daily throwaways harder to put in than the 30-days? I've worn contacts occasionally, starting with rigid gas-permeable, which were super easy to get in and out. Lately I have an rx for daily throwaways, which are more like saran wrap - I almost have to smooth them onto my eye with two fingers. Are the 30-days like that, too? Wondering how hard it will be for DD to get the saran wrap in place.

Thanks!