What age for contact lenses?

[BlueChampagne]

After two (minor) glasses-related accidents in two days, I was wondering what sort of age children start wearing contact lenses.

[bulletwithbutterflywings]

I started wearing the when I was about 11 or 12.

[bulletwithbutterflywings]

Can children have laser surgery?

[mateysmum]

It depends on the prescription and the child, but I think nowadays it can be as soon as the child is capable of being responsible about hygiene and cleaning and can insert and remove the lenses themselves - so maybe from 7, but I think for most kids a bit older.

My son got soft ones at 12 and couldn't cope with putting them in, then at 14 he has got fantastic ortho k lenses which he wears at night and then nothing during the day - a complete revelation. We only heard about them because we happened to go to an optician that is qualified to prescribe them. It has made a huge difference when playing rugby and paintballing!

It helped that I've worn lenses for donkey's years so was able to help him, but after a couple of weeks use he has never looked back.

PM me or ask if you want more info about ortho K. DS is short sighted and has an astigmatism if that helps.

[mateysmum]

Bullet - kids can't have laser because the eye is still changing. I think you have to wait till you're about 20 - again depends on the individual

[TheEarlOf]

When I was 15 or so but I don't really need them that much.

children can't have laser surgery I don't thinkbecause your eyes are still changing

[TheEarlOf]

Oh and I have only ever been allowed daily disposable lenses because of the cleaning etc (even though I'm an adult now!)

[AmberLeaf]

The hospital person [eye doctor- sorry the correct term escapes me!] said 13 and above is a good guide age, My son ended up getting them at 14.

As long as they are sensible and you think they will be careful hygiene wise, that is the main thing.

When my son got his first ones, he had to go into the opticians and practice putting them in, then go off for an hour or so, then go back and remove them himself. He learned very quickly and was allowed to take them home on the first practice session.

It had been life changing for my son really, he is much more confident now.

He uses the monthly ones, the optician said they often start them off with dailys thoughs, but he went straight to monthlies.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

My dd got hers at 13.

[AmberLeaf]

mateysmum ortho K lenses sound amazing!

Are they very expensive?

[mateysmum]

Hi Amber. They are not cheap, but worth every penny for the benefits. We pay £43 per month which includes new lenses every 6 months, all solutions and as many opticians appointments as we need.
Not all opticians can prescribe them. Our chap is fab and is highly qualified, so I'm very confident he is prescribing the best solution for DS.

How it works is that the lenses are a bit like hard lenses and they reshape the eye overnight and this is retained during the day. The optician took scans of DS's eyes to both fit the lenses and to monitor progress and health of the eye. After 6m DS is a textbook case.

The change is not permanent, but case study suggests that in children ortho k slows down deterioration in the prescription. Hopefully when he is older he can have laser but for now, it means complete freedom from lenses/glasses during waking hours which is fantastic for teen boys who seem to rough each other up regularly and take no prisoners at sports.

If you google it, there's a fair bit of info on the web

[AmberLeaf]

Thank you Mateysmum

It sounds really good, I just told my son about them and he was initially excited at the idea in a 'wow that sounds miraculous' way, but has just come over very sensible and said 'Mum, it is a lot of money and Im fine with the ones I have'...

I pay about £43 for 3 months worth of lenses and solution, so that would be a big difference.

I think it sounds like a good alternative to laser surgery...which is what I think my son is holding out for!

[fanjobiscuits]

Laser surgery you have to wait until the prescription is no longer changing. As you can't upgrade in the same way as new glasses/contacts! Mine didn't stop changing until my 30s

[mateysmum]

It is expensive - I didn't tell DH till it was a done deal!!! But as a lifelong lens wearer myself I could really sympathise with DS's hatred of glasses.
How sweet of your DS and if he is fine with the ones he has that's great. My DS really struggled with soft ones so orthoK was the right thing for him.

[imnotmymum]

Do the lenses work on astigmatism the ortho k lenses. I am very excited as is my DD. btw about 13 I guess as fiddly buggers to out in

[mateysmum]

They do work on astigmatism so long as it isn't too strong. The optician did warn DS that he might not get perfect results because of his astigmatism but this has not proved to be the case.

Because they are smaller than soft ones, I think they are easier to put in and out. DS has quite deep set eyes and found the soft ones like wrestling jelly.

[imnotmymum]

Will investigate perhaps not for me as I am old ...but for DD definitely. Never heard of these in 26 years of contact wearing. THANKS

[BlueChampagne]

A while to wait then since he's not quite 6! Thanks ladies.

[Drenchild]

Hi, I have done some searching and understand that different opticians provide different Ortho-K brands, Paragon (US) or EyeDream (UK) manufacturers. Would you mind sharing which brand you have used ?

Thanks