Should I Choose Eyeglasses Or Contacts?

I started wearing glasses in the second grade and contacts in the sixth, so I'm pretty well versed in the ins and outs of glasses and contacts. I don't think I can remember a time when I didn't at least have glasses. I figure with parents who both have horrendous eyesight (which was amazingly remedied by the Lasik surgery) my chances at coming out scotch-free were slim to none. I loved it when I got contacts and didn't realize how much I depended on my contacts until my sister accidentally took mine with her to South Carolina on vacation one summer. I personally prefer contacts to glasses for everyday, but the fact is I do need both. Whether you wear one more than the other is entirely up to you; I'll just lay the facts down.

Glasses are the noticeable form of eyewear and especially in today's world, good-looking ones are easy to find. Glasses can actually be considered a fashion accessory and so if you don't like the feeling of contacts in your eyes then glasses could be the way to go. I love the feeling of taking my contacts out at the end of the day and putting on my glasses, but truthfully I hate wearing my glasses all day. They get in my way and slip down my nose and when I wear them all day my ears kind of start to hurt. I think glasses are perfect for nighttime when your contacts need some refreshing and glasses are great for late-night studying. I find I associate my glasses with either winding down for the day or gearing up for a long night's work.

I'm a bigger proponent of contacts because it doesn't interfere with anything else visually. I look just like I would if I had perfect vision and no one can tell. Granted, contacts are a bit more of a responsibility than glasses because you have to clean them and soak them and find them when they drop. Probably one of the biggest drawbacks to contacts is their ability to slip down the drain, get stepped on, or tear (depending on whether you wear soft or gas permeable lenses). The moments when I hate contacts are when I'm tired; when it's the end of the day, my eyes get dried out, they itch, and sometimes I want to claw my eyes out completely. At that point I slip on the glasses to give my eyes a respite.

Glasses and contacts both have their merits and flaws, but they actually work in tandem and tend to tag team it to give you perfect vision. Especially when your eyesight is horrible like mine, you need either glasses or contacts at any given time to see anything. If you wear contacts, you'll probably have to have a side pair of glasses, but then it comes down to: is it worth it? In my book, contacts accompanied by a nighttime pair of glasses always worth it, but that can be for you to decide!