Dr. Gedamu Answers your Questions About Contact Lenses Fairfax VA
Q. Who can wear contact lenses and at what age can you start?
A. Contact lenses can be started at any age. Just remember, the younger the patient is the more responsibility on the parent.
Generally, we start anywhere around 10 years old for the patients to be responsible for themselves. Still some supervision is required. The more responsible the child, the better it is. And as we know, even if it is a grown up, unless that person is responsible, there might be complications.
Q. What kind of complications can arise from contact lenses?
A. Contact lenses that are not well taken care of will be a little less than clean. And if you leave them in longer they might cause infections and inflammation. If you ignore them further, you may not be able to wear contacts again.
If you don’t follow instructions about how to use your contacts, i.e. how to clean them, and when to dispose of them, the contacts will be too dirty to be in your eyes.
It that case you may get ulcers. What happens is, you may get simple inflammations that could develop into an ulcer which can erode your cornea and get to the point where it might reduce your vision.
There are other kinds of inflammations, like Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis, which will be very difficult to wear contact lenses with , and takes a long time heal.
Q. Is wearing contacts better for sports activities?
A. Absolutely. As long as the patient handles them the way they are supposed to be, contact lenses are excellent for sport activities. Soft contact lenses never fall out of your eyes. You can do whatever you want with them, except swimming or anything that might force foreign objects into your eyes. Other than that, any kinds of sports you do is much better with them.
Q. What is better for my eyes: glasses or contact lenses?
A. If you can handle and take care of your contact lenses the best way, there is no difference between glasses and contact lenses.
