How Young is Too Young?

Children as young as ten or eleven years old can be successfully fit with contact lenses. Parents should take the maturity level of the child into consideration and discuss their concerns with their optometrist during their first visit. Healthy contact lens wear requires responsibility on the part of the wearer in order to prevent eye infection or injury. Contact lenses, even disposable brands, require daily care and should only be worn for the amount of time specified by your optometrist.

You will need to make an appointment to see an eye care professional, usually an optometrist or ophthalmologist, for an eye exam. You doctor will check the health of your teen’s eyes, check their vision, and determine the right prescription for contact lenses. Contact lens prescriptions are different than glasses prescriptions. A contact lens prescription will have four pieces of information:

• The brand or style of contact lens
• The power, or amount of visual correction
• The base curve of the lens, which mimics the eye’s curve
• The diameter, or actual size of the lens

Before your appointment, write down a list of questions you and your teen have and bring it with you to the visit.

At the Optometrist’s Office

Once you, your teen and your doctor decide to try contacts, your teen will be given a class, usually by an optician or member of the doctor’s staff. Plan to spend at least two hours at the office—the insertion and removal class can be time consuming. During the class, your teen will learn:

• How to insert and remove a contact lens
• How to safely clean and store their contacts
• What solutions and cleaning products are best to use
• When not to wear contacts, such as when swimming
• Why water should never be used to re-wet contacts
• When to come back to see the doctor again

Learning to insert contact lenses can be a frustrating process. No one gets it right on the first try, and younger teens sometimes get discouraged. Try to keep your teen calm. Sometimes having an audience can hinder the process; leave younger siblings at home.

After your teen has successfully inserted and removed their contacts, they will be given a sample of cleaning solution and re-wetting drops. You should be sure to purchase more solution in the next day or two. Teens usually go through quite a lot of solution while adjusting to inserting and removing their contacts.

Directly after the class is the best time to bring out your previously prepared list of questions. Opticians usually have more time to spend with patients than the doctor does, and they should be able to answer all your questions. Opticians are full of knowledge; don’t hesitate to ask for tips or tricks to make contact lens wear easier.

Cost: Standard vs. Disposable

Standard, or yearly wear, contact lenses are still available, but they are not the best choice for teens. Standard lenses can be costly and are sold by the lens. As teens often tear or lose lenses frequently, replacement cost can quickly become prohibitive. Standard contacts are not as healthy for the eyes and can be harder to insert and remove than disposables.

Disposable lenses are much more cost effective. Most are sold in boxes of six lenses, ensuring that you always have your next pair or a spare on hand. Most teen’s eyes have different corrections needs, so you will likely need to buy two boxes at a time. Disposable contacts are also healthier for the eyes because there’s less bacterial build-up. A new pair is inserted every few weeks, minimizing the risk of infection. If your teen loses or tears a disposable lens, you’ll have a replacement already on hand. Disposable lenses save time, money and hassle.

Sleeping in Contacts?

The latest advances in contact lens technology are disposable lenses than can be safely worn overnight and for an extended period of time, from two weeks to a month. These lenses are referred to as extended-wear lenses. Many of them are made of silicon hydrogel, a more comfortable and breathable contact lens material.

Extended-wear lenses are a boon to those with active lifestyles, but not all contacts can be slept in safely. Discuss this option with your Optometrist before your teen sleeps in their contacts. Extended-wear contacts require minimal care, but must be replaced according to schedule to ensure healthy wear.

What about colored contacts?

Colored contacts are favorites with teens, boys and girls alike. Even dark brown eyes can be changed to lighter shades of blue, green and honey. Some of the newest colors actually blend three colors together to enhance the natural looking color-changing effect. Light eyes can be darkened or masked to look violet.

For Halloween, contacts are available to completely change the look of the eye—styles range from cat eyes and alien eyes to all red or black—even geometric patterns! Colored contacts are available with or without visual correction. Even if your vision is perfect, you will still need a professional eye exam to wear contacts. The health of your eye and the size of the contact lens must all be assessed prior to wearing colored contacts. Most colored contacts are also disposable and are reasonably priced.

It’s common for teens to swap colored contacts with their friends. This should never be done. Contact lenses are medical devices and are fit for each individual’s eye size and shape. Swapping lenses can lead to eye infections or damage to the lens, which in turn can damage the eye. A torn or damaged contact lens should never be inserted into the eye.

No More Glasses?

Even if your teen can successfully wear contact lenses, they should always have a back-up pair of glasses on hand in case of emergencies. Contacts can fall out, rip or collect debris, causing eye irritation. A teen with a spare pair of glasses is less likely to wear a damaged lens, which can cause injury to the eye. Glasses will also be necessary in the case of an eye irritation or infection. An inexpensive way to do this is to only have the lenses replaced in your teen’s old frame, saving the cost of the new frame.

It’s also a good idea to keep a spare contact case and bottle of solution in a school locker or backpack, just in case the lenses need to be removed away from home. Trial sizes can be obtained from your optometrist’s office, or in the travel section of the supermarket.

Contact Lens Care at Home

Often, teens who have just put in contacts for the first time come home from the Optometrist’s office and practice taking the lenses in and out. This is a bad idea the first day they are worn. The eye can be scratched by repeated attempts to insert or remove contacts. Your eye also has to adjust to the contact lens being there, and can feel mildly irritated for the first day or two. Advise your teen to wait a few days before they practice. Until then, only insert the lenses in the morning, and remove them at night, according to your eye care professional’s instructions.

Here are a few things to remember once you get home:

• Place a paper towel over the sink drain when inserting lenses. This way they won’t get lost if dropped.
• Always wash your hands with soap and rinse thoroughly before handling your lenses. Contact lenses will absorb soap and sting when inserted.
• Do not wear a damaged lens or attempt to insert it.
• Never share your lenses with anyone else.
• See your doctor immediately if your eyes turn and stay red, burn or are painful. You may have an eye infection.
• Never wear your contacts if you think you have an eye infection or if your eye is red, irritated or painful.
• Only use eye drops approved for use with contacts. Do not use drops made for allergies or to remove redness.
• Some contact lens cleaning solutions cannot be used directly in the eye. Read package directions completely.
• Clean your contact lens case daily with hot water or rinse it with solution. Allow it to air dry. Replace the case as needed; they can harbor bacteria.
• Always follow the replacement schedule for disposable contacts and see your Optometrist yearly to keep your teen’s eyes healthy.
• Never reuse contact solution in the storage case. Start with fresh from the bottle solution every single time.