Introduction

The quality of your eyesight is an important factor in determining your ability to function at work and at home. If you are having problems seeing because of nearsightedness or farsightedness, then you should consult with your optometrist about your options to improve your vision. There are several options in the market today for correcting poor vision including: glasses, contact lenses, eye exercises, and laser eye surgery. Each of these options has its pros and cons, and each is appropriate for specific demographics of patients. This article will examine each of these options and give you, the reader and consumer, the guidelines needed to make a decision on which vision corrective device is best for you.

Glasses

Pros and Cons of Glasses

Glasses have historically been the most common option for vision correction. This option is practical for just about every vision problem from extreme nearsightedness to astigmatisms to mild myopia. This vision correction option has many benefits. First, you can get your prescription changed periodically as your eyesight either improves or deteriorates due to your eye changing shape. Secondly, as mentioned above, eyeglasses can correct most people’s vision problems, unlike contacts, eye exercises, and even laser eye surgery. Finally, certain glasses can even protect your eyes from sun damage by changing colors when they enter into sunlight.

The drawbacks to this vision correction option are that glasses have to be worn in order to be useful, they sometimes have problems with glare and fogging, they may be uncomfortable to wear, and they may not look attractive especially when the prescription is strong and the lenses are thick. In order to find the best price and design for your particular condition it may take a bit of research on what products are available and what pricing and payment options are available, but most people are able to find something that fits their budget, vision, and fashion needs.

Importance of Seeing Your Eye Doctor

While a person is able to purchase an inexpensive pair of glasses or even sunglasses at most drug stores or department stores, these "glasses" really are nothing more than two magnifying glasses cut and fitted into a eyeglass frame. If these meet your needs for reading fabulous, however, in most cases these glasses do not have a magnification or corrective power that is close enough to what your eyes need to allow you to see clear enough for driving or for regular daily activities. If you try to use the wrong strength glasses on a full time basis they will increase the strain placed on your eyes and cause further distortion of your vision.

To avoid further damaging your eyes you need to visit with your optometrist on a regular basis, or as you notice that your vision is changing. Visiting your optometrist will not only give you the most accurate eyeglass prescription, but it will also help to identify eye diseases early, allowing time to treat the problem before it damages the structures of your eyes. It also allows you to address different eye corrective needs of your two eyes.

How to Reduce the Negative Aspects of Eyeglasses

While eyeglasses solve most vision problems, they do have some problems associated with them. The first issue is reflective glare. Reflective glare makes it difficult for people to see your eyes through the glass, it leaves white spots on photographs, and it makes it difficult for the wearer to see out at times. In order to reduce this problem there is an anti-reflective coating that can be applied to your lenses that will reduce these problems and make seeing out of your glasses easier.

Scratching is another issue that eyeglass wearers have to deal with. There are scratch-resistant coatings that can be applied to both glass and plastic lenses. If scratching is a big concern of yours, and if you don’t have a very strong prescription, then you should consider selecting glass lenses over plastic lenses, as glass is less likely to scratch.

Breaking or damage to the frame are also concerns that eyeglass wearers worry about, especially when the wearer is a child or adolescent. In order to reduce the chances that the frame will be bent, broken, or over-flexed you can purchase a flexible frame, or buy a pair of wire glasses that have hinges that over-extend. This option is also practical for people who have wider than average heads, who have found it difficult in the past to find a pair of glasses that comfortably fit their head shape.

Thick lenses are another concern that eyeglass wearers struggle with. Thick lenses are often the only option available to people with severe vision problems. In the past when lenses were only made out of glass, these prescriptions were heavy, uncomfortable, and embarrassing to wear especially when the person was a child or adolescent. Plastic lenses have reduced the weight of heavy prescriptions, however, they still seem thick and unfashionable. Now people with a strong prescription can opt to buy high-index lenses that are compressed thereby reducing the bulk of the lense, or they can buy aspheric lenses, which utilize a flatter curvature than most other lense types.

Costs of Glasses

Buying new glasses can be expensive, especially if you add extra coatings and features to your prescription like anti-glare coating or multi-focal options. In addition to buying all of the bells and whistles relating to your lenses, you also have to purchase a frame that fits your fashion sense, the shape of your face, and your coloring. Frames can range from $99 for a basic pair of store brand frames to hundreds of dollars for a designer frame. And what makes things even more expensive is that fashions will probably change faster than your prescription, making changing frames as common as rotating your tires.

To reduce your expenses while still keeping in step with current fashion trends you can simply have the store put your old lenses in a new frame. This will at least save you on purchasing a completely new pair of glasses. You can also look for a buy one, get one free sale to buy a couple of pairs of glasses with different frames. Perhaps buy one fashionable pair and one basic pair. That way you can have a pair of glasses that are trendy, while the trend lasts, and when they become unfashionable, you can wear your basic pair until you have the money to buy an updated frame.

In order to make sure the glasses that you selected are actually the ones that you want, look for stores that offer a no hassle return policy that will allow you to try out a frame for thirty days before you have to make a final decision on whether or not to keep the frame or trade it in for a different style. Also look for stores that offer a free replacement program in case your glasses break or need adjustments during the first year. If this is not offered free, the store may offer an insurance or replacement program for a small fee. If the fee is reasonably priced I would highly recommend purchasing it, especially if the glasses are for a child or adolescent.

Contact Lenses

Don’t Use Contact Lenses If…

Unlike glasses, contact lenses are not right for everyone. In fact there are a number of conditions that will disqualify you from being able to get a contact lense prescription such as if you have Blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelids), tear film abnormality, acne rosacea, ocular shingles or herpes, iritis (inflammation of the iris), or if you live or work in a dusty environment. Other conditions like astigmatism or glaucoma may also prevent you from being able to wear contact lenses.

Pros and Cons of Contact Lenses

Contacts have been around since the late 1940s, and now offer people with a range of vision problems with an immediate vision corrective device that is not detectable by the casual onlooker. The inconspicuous nature of this vision corrective device is just one of its benefits. Contact lenses also are more comfortable than glasses, they don’t fog up or glare like glasses do, and they are generally less expensive than glasses are. Also you don’t have to worry that your contacts are not fashionable because they aren’t visible.

While contacts have all of these advantages over glasses, they do have their own drawbacks. Most of the drawbacks of contacts are related to their over-use and their general limitations. Contacts have many physical impacts on the health of your eyes. First they reduce the amount of oxygen that reaches your eyes, even with gas-permeable lenses. Next contacts increase focal point strain on your eyes and affect the curvature of your cornea, reduce the thickness of your cornea, and they reduce your cornea’s ability to resist infection.

Importance of Seeing Your Eye Doctor

Again, like with glasses, seeing your eye doctor on a regular basis is important in order to get the right prescription and in order to detect the development of eye diseases and problems early. However, unlike glasses, contact lenses have to be prescribed by a doctor. This is because contact prescriptions have to take into account more variables in order to get the proper fit, shape, and magnification for your eyes.

How to Avoid Problems with Your Contacts

The most common problems associated with contacts are caused by inappropriate contact care, and over-use. To reduce the chances of infection and damage to your eyes reduce the amount of time that you spend wearing your contacts each day and use approved cleaning solutions daily to remove protein and debris from the lenses.

Where to Get Your Contacts

There are many places that you can purchase your contact lenses from. In February 2004 a law passed that required optometrists to give their patients a copy of their contact lense prescription so that they could purchase their lenses from any supplier that they wanted. You will need to have a copy of your prescription when you purchase your contact lenses regardless of what supplier you choose.

When shopping around you will want to look for the supplier that has the best price, availability, insurance acceptance (if applicable), customer service, convenience, and profession services. If you live in a rural area, or in an area that is far from a department store that offers contact lenses, or if you are a busy professional that needs contacts delivered to them for convenience, then an online contact lense store may be a practical option. If you do decided to purchase contacts online make sure the store has a Better Business Bureau accreditation, that they have a history of good customer service, that they offer a return policy, and that they deliver within a reasonable amount of time.

The average price for a pair of contact lenses will greatly depend on what type of lense you are purchases. For disposable contact you can expect to pay about $3-$5 per month for a pair of disposable contact (more for daily disposables), whereas a regular wear pair can be about $80-$100 for a pair that lasts about 12 months to 18 months.

Eye Exercises as an Option for Vision Correction

I have recently come across several companies that have promoted eye correction through a series of exercises. These exercises range from tromboning objects in front of your eyes to exercise the eye muscles, to eye movement tracking patterns that are repeated. While each company that sells these eye exercise programs offer "proof" that they work, the evidence that is provided is based on studies that they have conducted and evaluated, and not based on independent studies and results. The nature of these studies seems to be "unscientific" in nature and they all seem to fail to present findings in an objective manner. Also I have run professional opinions that dispute the reliability and viability of these programs as a way to improve vision. In addition to professional opinions against such programs, the number of fraud law suits filed by state attorney generals against companies that provide these programs also leads me to the conclusion that these programs do not provide a system that improves vision, and therefore consumers should probably rule them out as an option for improving their vision.

Laser Eye Surgery

Pros and Cons of Laser Eye Surgery

An improvement in the laser technology used for laser eye surgery has increased its popularity as a method to correct vision problems. The benefits of laser eye surgery are that (1) it is permanent fix (in most cases), (2) you don’t have to wear corrective devices, (3) the results are usually immediate, and (4) the surgery only take a couple of minutes. The drawbacks to laser eye surgery, on the other hand, are that (1) it is expensive, (2) it is a new technology that is still being perfected, (3) complications and mistakes can impair vision or produce imperfect results, and (4) it is not right for everyone.

Is Laser Eye Surgery Right For You?

If you are considering laser eye surgery, and can afford the costs associated with this surgery, then you will be evaluated on a number of issues to determine if you qualify for it. To qualify for laser eye surgery you have to be at least 21 years old for Summit laser treatment, or 18 years of age for a VISX laser treatment. This is because the eye continues to change shape and grow up to these points. You must also have relatively healthy eyes that are free of retinal problems, corneal scars, or eye diseases like glaucoma. Generally speaking this treatment is only affective in cases of mild to moderate myopia, and your doctor will be able to tell you if your condition is within the range of possible treatment. And finally you will need to be informed about the possible risks associated with this treatment.

Making Your Selection

To determine what vision correction option(s) you will select, you will need to evaluate your lifestyle, your budget, and what options will be able to best correct your vision problem. If you are having problems deciding what option to select, conduct your own research by: surfing the web, reviewing brochures and literature on different products and procedures, talk to your eye care profession about what option they think is best for you, and talk with friends and family about the options that they have selected to correct their vision problems. With the information that you uncover, you will be fully prepared to make an informed decision about what option(s) is/are best for your condition, budget, and fashion sensibility.