The contact lens institute recently released a new study for optometrists listing the top factors why you, as a patient, may not want contact lenses.
If your doctor thinks you are a contact lens candidate, however, all of these potential barriers have a solution! Let’s discuss them:
1) I don’t want to touch my eye
The good news is, you don’t have to! Technically speaking, only the contact lens ever touches your eye, not your own finger. It’s a common misconception that if you can’t touch your eye, you can’t wear contacts. I have worn contacts for sixteen years and still can’t touch my eye directly, because the eye isn’t made for that!
That being said, it does take practice to get used to having your fingers near your eyes. We previously wrote a blog that breaks down the steps to get used to this and overcome that barrier. Check it out here.
2) Cost/too expensive
Not all prescriptions and brands are the same when it comes to cost! Higher or more complicated prescriptions are going to cost more per box than a lower or less complicated prescriptions. Prices for Daily Contacts on 1-800 Contacts in March 2024 varied from $62/box to $165/box without insurance or the 20% first time order discount. Dailies come in boxes of 90 so a year supply is 4 boxes for each eye.
$62 x 8 = $496 per year, $496 / 720 = $0.68 per contact, $1.38/day, $41.4/month
$165 x 8 = $1320 per year, $1320 / 720 = $1.84 per contact, $3.68/day, $110.4/month
With online ordering, you can buy just what you need for the month, use affirm to spread out payments, find discount codes, and more to make the bill more reasonable and meet your contact lens goals without worrying about cost.
3) Dry eyes/irritation
New daily lens technology allows contact lenses to maintain up to 96% of its moisture for over 16 hours. Your doctor can help you find the brand that works best with your root cause for dry eye and/or irritation, if one type doesn’t work, doesn’t mean all types won’t work. If you’re willing to work with your doctor to find your ideal situation, they’ll help you out!
4) Contact lenses are difficult to handle
This is also dependent on brand! Not all lenses are created equal, and the handling tint, thickness, flexibility, and material all play a part in a contact lenses handleability. If the first kind you tried wasn’t working for you, tell your doctor and they can grab a different type with better handleability for you to try!
5) Fear of eye infections
It is true that 14 million people a year will go to the doctor due to an eye related problem, however this is largely due to the fact that 99% of adults over 25 wearing contact lenses exhibit at least one risky hygiene behavior! If you follow all of the CDC’s recommendations for hygiene related to contact lens wear, you have nothing to fear. You can read our blog on mistakes to avoid here.
6) I like the way I look in glasses
Contacts can’t really solve this. If this is you, you probably are better off sticking with your glasses, BUT if your eye doctor thinks your visual acuity would really benefit from contact lenses anyway, you can always get ‘plano’ glasses, aka glasses with no actual prescription or power in them, just for fashion :)
7) I have astigmatism
While this used to mean you couldn’t wear contact lenses, every brand now has their own line of astigmatism contact lenses and between them nearly every astigmatism prescription can now be corrected with a contact lens. Isn’t that exciting?
8) Don’t understand maintenance/lens care requirements
That’s okay! We’ll teach you! Follow optometrists and OptoOrg on social media to learn all the tips and tricks for maintenance and lens care. We’ll get your knowledge up to snuff so you can feel confident in your maintenance routine. For instance, our blog here, tells you all you need to know about caring for a contact lens case for those that wear monthly, bi-weekly, scleral, or hard lenses.
9) Allergies affect my eyes
The good news is wearing contact lenses doesn’t make this any worse, and in some instances can make it better since the allergen lands on the lens and not your eye. If you have eye allergies, your doctor will most likely recommend daily lenses as opposed to monthly or bi-weekly so any allergens that do end up on the lens are discarded immediately. There are also eye allergy wipes and Pataday allergy drops, which regardless of wearing contact lenses or not, can significantly help with eye allergies. Ask your doctor about what’s right for you ASAP!
10) I’ve heard negative things about contacts from others
Honestly, some people just exist to be negative. If the ‘others’ telling you negative things are generally negative people or have admitted to not following the proper hygiene tactics, then take their word with a grain of salt and make your own opinions with your doctor’s help. Everybody is different so what may have been a problem for one person, may never be a problem for you. Your own research and feelings and discussions with your doctor are what should weigh the highest on your pros and cons list.
11) I have presbyopia
Good news! Similar to astigmatism, contact lenses also now come in presbyopia-correcting prescriptions! I myself wear a multifocal contact lens and have for about a decade. Talk to your doctor about which multifocal lens is right for you and try it out!
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