I have worn glasses for most of my life, and they never really bothered me. Being short sighted I could still see at close distance without wearing my glasses so I never really had a problem with them. That all changed a few years ago when I realized that I was actually terribly short sighted and couldn't do much without wearing my glasses, only then did I realize that wearing glasses was actually quite annoying at times and decided to enquire about contact lenses.

I was maybe sixteen years old the first time I asked my optician about getting contacts. She said that I was too young to wear lenses and that I would need to wait till my prescription settled. As I didn't know any better I just thought I would need to live with glasses and never thought any more about it. That is until I changed my optician a year or two later, my new optician said that my age was not a factor however I have astigmatism and that would mean that I wouldn't be able to see properly with the lenses that were available at the time, I didn't want to sacrifice my good vision so I again thought I would have to live with glasses.

Recently I became aware of new lenses that were designed for people like me who have astigmatism and thought I would give it a try, it took me a while to convince myself to do so but now nearly two months on I am so glad I did and I know I will never look back. Contact lenses have changed my life, sounds dramatic I know but they really have. I no longer have to clean my glasses constantly, walking in the rain is no longer the nightmare it once was and I have a much better field of vision than I had with glasses.

The biggest difference is that I am no longer suffering from the terrible headaches I have had for years. While I can't say for sure that this is related to wearing contacts all I can say is that after years of almost constant headaches I have not had a single one since the day I first put my contacts in.

Contact lenses are not for everyone, some people are not suitable for wearing them and others just can't put them in their eye. Some people have problems with wearing lenses as they find them uncomfortable, although if you follow your optician's advice when you first start wearing them and build up your wear time you shouldn't have a problem. I can wear my lenses all day with no problem whatsoever but some people need to wear glasses for a few hours each day as they can't wear their lenses all day.

The decision on whether to choose glasses or contact lenses is entirely an individual one. Glasses for many people are a fashion accessory and they quite enjoy wearing them. I just wasn't one of those people, I decided that contact lenses would be best suited to me and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made.

Learn more about this author, Kirsty O'Lone.
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