Contact Lenses vs. Eyeglasses: Which Are Best For US?

Whether you choose to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses for vision correction mostly depends on personal preferences. Lifestyle, comfort, convenience, budget and aesthetics should all factor into your decision-making process.

Before deciding between contacts and glasses, keep in mind that one is not necessarily better than the other; each has its pros and cons in terms of vision, ease of use and eye health.

Eyeglasses offer many benefits over contact lenses. They require very little cleaning and maintenance, you don't need to touch your eyes to wear them (decreasing your risk for eye infections), and glasses are cheaper than contact lenses in the long run since they don't need to be replaced as often.

Glasses also can act as an extension of your personality and make a great fashion statement!Also, eyeglasses can do something contact lenses cannot — they can adjust the amount of light entering your eye for optimum comfort and vision. Specifically, photochromic lenses are clear indoors and at night, and darken automatically in sunlight for clear, comfortable vision in any light. Although some contact lenses can block some UV light from entering the eye, photochromic eyeglass lenses block 100 percent UV and protect not only the inside of the eye from UV, but the exterior of the eye and eyelids as well.

That being said, contact lenses have many advantages over glasses. Contacts sit directly on your eye, so vision, particularly peripheral vision, is unobstructed. You can participate in sports and outdoor activities without fear of eyeglasses getting in the way, falling off or breaking. You can even change the colour of your eyes with colour contact lenses.