3 Things to Consider Before Getting Contact Lenses for Your Child

This is a partnered post.

Contact lenses are generally considered to be safe for any child over the age of 10 to wear, depending on the temperament and the trustworthiness of the child.

This is great news if you have a child who likes to play sports and is generally active! Contact lenses not only mean that your child doesn’t need to wear glasses, and therefore risk losing or breaking them while playing sports, but they also mean that your child’s vision will be better. Contact lenses correct the entire field of vision rather than just the portion covered by the glasses, and they are also less prone to smudges and scratches.

However, before getting contact lenses for your child, it’s worth considering whether you think they would look after them effectively. If contact lenses aren’t cared for properly then they can pose a risk to eye health.

How hygienic is your child?

The biggest risk with contact lenses and children is that a lot of children won’t care for them properly, which could mean that there is a risk of infection.

You should be certain that your child will:

• Wash and dry their hands thoroughly before taking their lenses out or putting them in.
• Take care to rub, rinse and disinfect lenses in solutions as provided by their optometrist as directed, and never use anything other than the proper solutions.
• Not expose their lenses to water or saliva.
• Not wear their lenses for too long.
• Remove their lenses if their eyes become dry, itchy or red.

These are all the basic steps required to ensure that bacteria aren’t allowed to enter the eye and cause a problem. Some children won’t be able to take care of their lenses diligently and it will therefore be safer for them to wear glasses until they are older, however, responsible children can benefit from lenses.

Daily lenses are better for children
If you are going to try contact lenses with your child, it is a good idea to try daily lenses first. Daily lenses are disposable, and thrown away at the end of each day. This differs from other kinds of lenses that need to be removed and cleaned daily.

Daily lenses are often easier for children to manage, and they offer other benefits too. Precision1 sports contacts are daily lenses that offer precise vision, comfort and easy handling, so they are a great lens for your child to get used to.

They may not be right for seasonal allergy sufferers
If your child suffers from seasonal allergies such as hay fever, then contact lenses may not be right for them. There is some evidence to suggest that hay fever symptoms could be worsened by contact lenses, because pollen and other irritants can become trapped by the lens. This means that your eyes can’t rinse them away naturally with tears as they usually would.

If your child is a hay fever sufferer and wants to try lenses, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the pollen count, and suggest that they don’t use lenses on high count days. Alternatively, they could take glasses out with them as a backup, and change out of their lenses if they notice their eyes becoming irritated.