Glasses, lenses or laser correction: what to choose?

First of all, two things need to be clear:

• From the point of view of efficiency, it is wrong to compare glasses and lenses. If the condition of the patient’s eyes allows the use of both means of correction, then they will provide visual acuity equally.
• If there are no contraindications to wearing lenses, then a person makes a choice based on personal preferences. Comfort, convenience and lifestyle come to the fore.

Glasses are the primary means of correction. The ophthalmologist always first selects them, and only after, if the patient wishes, gives recommendations on the choice of contact lenses.

Wearing glasses

Pros

• Less demanding service. Unlike contact lenses, glasses do not need special care, it is enough to keep them clean and take care of the frame to avoid mechanical damage.
• No risk of infections. When putting on glasses, you do not need to touch your eyes, which means you should not be afraid of microbes getting on the surface of the eye from your hands.
• Long service life. Contact lenses require strict wearing limits. They are divided into one-day contact lenses that need to be disposed of after 12-14 hours of wearing, planned replacement lenses (changed once a month or every three months), traditional contact lenses that can last up to a year.
• In turn, replacement of glasses may be necessary only in cases where the frame has ceased to meet fashion trends or is simply bored with a person, and, of course, in cases of breakage.
• Saving money in the long run. In order for planned replacement lenses to last for several days and months, you cannot do without care – you will need special solutions for disinfection and storage cases. Using daily lenses is also not the most budget option.
• Eye protection in windy weather. Another argument in favor of glasses is protection from wind and dust particles that can get into your eyes.
• UV protection. Photochromic lenses protect your eyes from the sun. Surely you have noticed how the lenses of eyeglasses darken in bright sunlight and become transparent again indoors.

Cons

• Discomfort during physical activity. Various sports with glasses will be overshadowed by inconvenience, in addition, the risk of eye injury when colliding with an opponent or being hit by a projectile in the face increases.
• Distortion of peripheral vision. A part of the frame and temple gets into the area of ​​“lateral” vision, this can create discomfort, especially at the beginning of wearing glasses. They quickly get used to it, but not everyone, such a nuance constantly interferes with someone.
• Weather influence. When it rains, drops will remain on the lenses, and when it snows, snowflakes will remain on the lenses, glasses may fog up when moving into a warm room. This also presents certain difficulties.
• The very fact of wearing glasses can also cause discomfort. Someone is simply not ready to accept himself with glasses, someone is dissatisfied with his appearance, and someone is embarrassed. If glasses are a fashion accessory for one person, they are a sentence for another.

Now let’s move on to contact lenses. This is a more advanced method of correction, although it appeared quite a long time ago – in the twenties of the last century, and received mass use and recognition in the late 1960s, when the Czech scientist Otto Wichterle invented soft contact lenses.

Contact lenses

Pros

• Availability of an active lifestyle. This is probably the most important argument. The ability to play sports without hindrance and not experience discomfort due to glasses, dirty and fogged lenses is important to many.
• aesthetic component. We said above that not everyone likes to see themselves in glasses. Lenses, on the other hand, will not give out to others that your vision is not perfect, and will not hide expressive facial features.
• Unlimited field of view. If, when wearing glasses, part of the frame still falls into the field of view, then the lenses, on the contrary, eliminate this drawback. And all thanks to their shape, exactly repeating the shape of the eye.
• Comfort in all weather conditions. Contact lenses do not fog up, rain drops do not settle on them.
• Temporary restoration of vision. There are otokeratological contact lenses that work a little differently – they are worn at night and, while you sleep, affect the epithelium of the eye, changing the shape of the cornea and the eyeball. So temporarily the vision becomes sharper, the effect lasts up to three days.

Cons

• Difficult to put on and take off. This procedure is not comfortable for everyone, because you have to pull back the eyelid and touch the eyeball with your finger. At first it takes a lot of time, but over time it becomes commonplace.
• risk of introducing bacteria. When using lenses, you have to touch your eyes, so hygiene comes to the fore. If you do not wash your hands, there is a possibility of microbes and dirt entering the surface of the eye, which leads to inflammatory diseases.
• Compliance with the mode of wearing. Contact lenses have strict terms of use, if they are neglected, diseases such as dry eye syndrome or corneal hypoxia can easily be obtained. Lenses prevent the flow of oxygen to the eyes, so they should not be worn for a long time.
• Careful care. Reusable contact lenses require special care. After use, they must be placed in a special case with a disinfectant solution, and the case itself should be washed daily with the same solution. These measures will prevent the occurrence of serious infectious eye diseases.
• Prohibition to use in inflammatory processes, allergic reactions and eye injuries.

There are enough strengths, as well as disadvantages, for each of these correction methods. Everyone makes a choice based on needs and lifestyle. The most popular format is the use of both glasses and lenses. So, many people put on lenses in the morning, going to work or school, and upon returning home, change them to glasses, allowing their eyes to rest.

This is the most effective option, eliminating discomfort in everyday life and possible negative consequences for the organs of vision.

Alternative

Another way to restore vision is laser correction. This is a micro-invasive procedure that allows you to regain full vision and no longer use glasses or contact lenses.

Why do people choose laser vision correction surgery?

• Medical indications arise when glasses are not suitable for a person because, for example, he has a very large diopter difference between his eyes, and lenses are contraindicated due to dry eye syndrome. In such cases, vision can only be corrected with laser surgery.
• Often the reason is the patient’s desire to be independent of temporary means of correction and lead an active lifestyle.

This method of correction is suitable for those people who lead an active lifestyle and do not want to experience discomfort from the use of glasses or lenses. Often professional athletes make a choice in his favor, especially contact sports (hockey, rugby) and martial arts. After all, even the use of contact lenses in them can be dangerous.

Sometimes the need for surgery arises due to the chosen profession. For example, for employees of law enforcement agencies, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, pilots and some other specialists, it is important to have good eyesight without the use of optical devices. Such specialists go for laser correction for professional reasons.

The operation itself takes less than a minute, and all restrictions are removed the very next day – you can return to strength training, swim and even visit the sauna.