Glasses vs. Contacts

Just like the title says. Who has what? And which do you prefer? Also, if youre willing to share, cost wise which one is more expensive? (my glasses are usually like $400-600 a pair i think).

Ive always had glasses and i feel like theyre a complete PITA lately. They fog up so i cant see during the worst possible times, they fall off when im doing something i need to see, whenever its raining and im outside they get wet and i cant see, and the obvious, i dont have any peripheral vision with them. Ive had bifocals since i was in 3rd grade so im very used to them, nothing new to me at all. I was always opposed to contacts bc it kinda creeped me out having to touch my eye and stuff. But now that im older i realized that really doesnt bother me that much and i was making a mountain outta a molehill lol. So yea anyways, i would love to hear others input on the matter. Post away!!!

I'm pretty much blind without my glasses, I have used both and hate contacts with a passion... not sure on price as it will depend on what your prescription is. My prescription is a very strange one (because I am so blind lol) so everything costs a fortune. That's why I have optical insurance. New frames every other year, and new lenses once a year.

Also I don't think I could live without my transition lenses anymore...

Been in glasses since I was 11 years old. Never tried contacts, and I'm not really sure why...I don't have an issue with sticking them in, it's just one of those things I never got around to trying.

I usually buy one new pair a year, and one new pair of sunglasses about every two years. I would say I average spending around $300 per pair.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I'm pretty much blind without my glasses, I have used both and hate contacts with a passion... not sure on price as it will depend on what your prescription is. My prescription is a very strange one (because I am so blind lol) so everything costs a fortune. That's why I have optical insurance. New frames every other year, and new lenses once a year.

Also I don't think I could live without my transition lenses anymore...

---

I am probably equally as blind lol. I cant see within 3 feet or so without my spectacles lol. I dont have insurance anymore but when i was on my stepdads insurance it was the same deal. Frames bi-annually and lenses annually.

I had the transitions but the filament or coating on it wore off. Idk if it was from sweat or from the steam coming outta the dish machines at my work, but it wore off around the edges. Kinda pissed me off. Another thing i hate about glasses is mine always seem to get scratched.

Any specific reasons why you hated contacts?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slim

Been in glasses since I was 11 years old. Never tried contacts, and I'm not really sure why...I don't have an issue with sticking them in, it's just one of those things I never got around to trying.

I usually buy one new pair a year, and one new pair of sunglasses about every two years. I would say I average spending around $300 per pair.

---

Danggg. Glasses be cheaper in the Sunshine State!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

Danggg. Glasses be cheaper in the Sunshine State!

---

I get mine at Wal-Mart, no matter where I'm at. Same glasses, smaller selection, lower prices, takes about two weeks for them to come back.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

Danggg. Glasses be cheaper in the Sunshine State!

---

depends on the prescription, I usually look at a $500 bill without the insurance lol :(

Quote:

---

Any specific reasons why you hated contacts?

---

I found that I was always messing with them, and I found them to be uncomfortable. (apparently some people don't feel them at all... no so with me) Glasses feel more "natural" to me I guess? hard to explain

I used to wear glasses, then switched to contacts, and ultimately got LASIK about five years ago. I know this wasn't an option listed but I can't recommend it enough.

Maybe i oughtta look into getting my glasses from Wally World from now on!:gj:

And yea i get what you mean aaron. I feel like ive had glasses for so long that contacts might mess me up too as far as feeling unnatural. If i have them off for like 30 secs im already reaching up to my nose to "push" them up even though theyre not even on my face lol. Its like my body cant see so it naturally tries to push up my glasses and theyre not even on. I feel like such a dummy when i do it too, bc i know i must look so stupid lol.:rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky Dragons

I used to wear glasses, then switched to contacts, and ultimately got LASIK about five years ago. I know this wasn't an option listed but I can't recommend it enough.

---

Idk if i could ever do the lasik surgery. Just thinking about lasers or whatever they use near my eyes makes them water lol

Plus what if they mess up and you wake up blind?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

Idk if i could ever do the lasik surgery. Just thinking about lasers or whatever they use near my eyes makes them water lol

Plus what if they mess up and you wake up blind?

---

My mom had a botched Lasik a few years back... she was partially blind until they went back in and fixed it. I don't know if they can do that in all cases.... but she ended up regaining her site and no longer needs corrective lenses.

I primarily wear contacts, have for about 6-7 years and wore glasses all growing up. I prefer my contacts by far. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but in my experience the advantages of contacts outweigh those of glasses. Your doctor will probably be able to hook you up with a trial pair so you can see how you like them. Like anything, they take some getting used to. When I first started wearing them it drove me nuts when they dried up. Your body will adjust to that, though. Same with the idea of touching your eyeball.

One piece of advice, though. If you're like me and you love spicy food, ALWAYS wash your hands before taking your contacts out. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

Plus what if they mess up and you wake up blind?

---

:number1: This, plus the cost, have kept me from looking at the Lasik option.

My vision is 20/2600 without my glasses, beyond legally blind, but it's correctable. Contacts annoy me, too time consuming, and they aggravate my eyes, glasses FTW!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trackstrong83

My vision is 20/2600 without my glasses

---

:O Wow, and I thought I was bad at 20/650!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

My mom had a botched Lasik a few years back... she was partially blind until they went back in and fixed it. I don't know if they can do that in all cases.... but she ended up regaining her site and no longer needs corrective lenses.

---

Well you see Aaron, the proble is... Im not only blind as a bat, im also partially deaf from listening to too loud of music. (this is the prognosis from my coworkers, ive never actually been tested though lol.)
So if i were to wake up blind, i would probably have a panic attack lol. Thats cool that they were able to fix your moms though. Id like to know the mistake rate on those surgeries...:O

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AK907

I primarily wear contacts, have for about 6-7 years and wore glasses all growing up. I prefer my contacts by far. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but in my experience the advantages of contacts outweigh those of glasses. Your doctor will probably be able to hook you up with a trial pair so you can see how you like them. Like anything, they take some getting used to. When I first started wearing them it drove me nuts when they dried up. Your body will adjust to that, though. Same with the idea of touching your eyeball.

One piece of advice, though. If you're like me and you love spicy food, ALWAYS wash your hands before taking your contacts out. ;)

---

I feel like the pros for contacts would probably outweigh the cons in my case too, but like i said im just so used to glasses. Also like i said i dont have insurance right now so i wont be getting any free contacts from my doctor til i get insurance to go see her lol.
And yea i love spicy food so thatd definetly be a mistake i would try at all costs to avoid...

I mean I haven't had Lasik.. So that shows my stance on it lol. I'm not terribly afraid that I would wake up blind, but I'm not bothered by wearing glasses so I'll pass on the risk and cost.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slim

:number1: This, plus the cost, have kept me from looking at the Lasik option.

---

How much does it cost?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trackstrong83

My vision is 20/2600 without my glasses, beyond legally blind, but it's correctable. Contacts annoy me, too time consuming, and they aggravate my eyes, glasses FTW!!!

---

Oh man thats pretty bad lol. So im assuming you can use echolocation to make your way around town and stuff?

I've worn glasses since 1999.
I don't know why, but I love glasses. I was excited to get my first pair when I was in the 5th grade. I have the same problems as you(they fog up, slip off when I look downward sometimes, annoying when it rains), but I would still choose glasses over contacts.

I started wearing contacts in high school for sports. Glasses really did hinder my hand eye coordination because the frames would bounce up and down when I ran and it obscured my vision. Although I have to say my glasses probably saved my eyes when getting smashed in the face from a fly ball in P.E.

Other than for sports, I HATE wearing contacts. In the spring it gunks up with what I assume is pollen. The gunk sticks to the contact lenses and blurs everything, which defeats the purpose of wearing contacts in the first place. And the gunk on the lenses would catch on my eye lids so the contacts would move up and down as I blinked. Sometimes it would even roll to the back of my eye balls, which was freaky. (They came out eventually)
But yeah... I don't like contacts.

I get new glasses every 3-5 years. The whole package of lens + frame comes out to be around $500-600. That includea the scratch guard coating, anti-glare coating, and the option of a thinner lens for my specific prescription. Thinner lenses are more expensive than 'normal' lenses. With my vision, I could only imagine the 'normal' lenses for my glasses to be as thick as magnified glasses.

When I had contacts, I used Acuvue disposable. It was soft contacts versus hard. Each pair of contacts lasted 2 weeks before I would change them out for a new ones. It was $30 for a box of 6 lenses. I used about 8 boxes a year so around $240.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

How much does it cost?

---

I'm sure someone who's had the procedure will have more updated numbers, but I think it's about $1000 per eye.

Of course, convenient financing is available ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

How much does it cost?

---

at least $2,000 per eye

So eventually you will save money vs buying glasses/contacts, but it is a big upfront investment.

My dad got Lasik years ago. His vision was horrible.
The procedure did help and he didn't have to wear glasses for a few years, but he eventually needed glasses again. His vision just continued to gradually get worse. I don't think his vision is as bad as pre-lasik vision, but it is still getting worse.

The doctors even told him that his vision would eventually get bad again with time.
I don't know if it has to do w/ his age or not because he's pretty old.

I wear glasses. I've worn contacts in the past but I just prefer glasses. I'm lazy and don't like taking contacts out. I may get them again but just get the ones you change every day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

How much does it cost?



Oh man thats pretty bad lol. So im assuming you can use echolocation to make your way around town and stuff?

---

It's about $3500 for both eyes. I went from needing glasses for everything to having 20/10 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. My wife got it a couple years ago too and couldn't be happier either. They actually had to cut my corneas open when I had it done but now they can go right through them.

I was actually able to watch through a camera on the laser when my wife had the procedure done on a big screen tv in front of the operating room (which I could look into also through a large picture window) and it was pretty incredible to watch. I took photos on my old school cell phone and would post them but don't think I'll be able to figure it out.

They lock it on and it tracks and adjusts so fast now (millions of times per second) that it's not possible to make a mistake even if you move your eyes around mid process and purposely try to mess it up :O. I remember there were many people having problems several years ago (I felt like I was taking a risk then too) but it's as close to 100% safe as anything can get with the method used today.

I've had glasses my whole life. I went to contacts for a while... but I found them pretty uncomfortable. My eyes are quite dry a lot of the time and they were just too itchy for me. Also, these days I have a shaved head and a goatee and am a pretty rough looking person if you don't know me. I rock my glasses so people know from a distance that I'm not a murderer and I'm smarter than them. When I had both, I could see a clear difference in the way I was treated with them and without them.

I can't stand glasses, they make me motion sick. I wear extended wear contacts and only take them out when changing pairs.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

I started with glasses, went to contacts, and then took the $4500 leap with Lasik six years ago. I hardly even remember how much of a hassle it was to take contacts in and out, or how painful it was if I forgot and slept in them, or having to worry about losing a pair of glasses while canoeing, etc. As you get older, your eyesight will deteriorate, whether you have Lasik or not. It's just part of the aging process.

Some Laser Vision Correction info. Prices generally run $3600.00 to around $5000.00, for both eyes. Of course some markets may see higher or lower prices. You can't actually wake up blind from LVC, as you must be awake for the procedure. It will not stop the aging process, such as presbyopia (think reading glasses), nor stop cataracts or so forth. For those already in reading glasses, most doctors offer monovision. With the IntraLase LASIK procedure there is no cutting at all, no blades what so ever. Look at a 20 year cost comparrison, and Laser Vision Correction actually becomes quite affordable.I could go on and on and on. Hope this clears some of that up.

Glasses personally :) I can;t stand anything being near or in my eye :( Plus I only really need them for reading and drawing. My glasses are funky red ones and according to Grant make me look like a stereotypical receptionist, schoolteacher librarian type..and he sometimes does this:

:clap: :lick:

:gj::D

So i can only assume my glasses are good :rolleyes::D

Contacts are great, the only problems I have with them. Is that 1) after many hours of wear, they become uncomfortable. 2) if I wear an old pair too long I start to get headaches.

Don't get me wrong though, glasses are a nice break for contacts but they limit my field of view. I like to switch off from both.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AK907

I primarily wear contacts, have for about 6-7 years and wore glasses all growing up. I prefer my contacts by far. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but in my experience the advantages of contacts outweigh those of glasses. Your doctor will probably be able to hook you up with a trial pair so you can see how you like them. Like anything, they take some getting used to. When I first started wearing them it drove me nuts when they dried up. Your body will adjust to that, though. Same with the idea of touching your eyeball.

One piece of advice, though. If you're like me and you love spicy food, ALWAYS wash your hands before taking your contacts out. ;)

---

I agree with the adjustment period. When I first got my extended wear contacts, my eyes would feel really dry when I woke up - I'd just keep a bottle of visine by the bed and I was fine.

Now I don't even need it. The great thing about wearing contacts is I can cut onions like no one's business - and my eyes never water! :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slim

:O Wow, and I thought I was bad at 20/650!

---

I thought I was bad at 20/200!