Contact lenses or glasses, which one is better? The debate has been on for a while now. While some people simply detest the contact lenses only because they didn’t like the thought of ‘putting their finger into their eyes’, there were others who beg to differ as they feel that contact lenses do not restrict the vision to the rim of the glasses. For some, it was simply uncomfortable to put on contacts and the irritation it caused if any foreign body lodged in the eye.
While glasses have been around for a long time now, it has been around since the 8th century B.C. where there was some type of lens that was used by those who had some issues with the vision. During the 1st century B.C. there is documented evidence that emeralds were used due to their magnifying properties. When there is restriction of vision it is difficult to think of the effort that has to be put in just to visualize what lies ahead. People still feel that glasses restrict a person’s vision but lenses do not limit the vision.
Earlier the frames of glasses were huge and that was indeed better as the vision was not restricted. Only looking in different directions, for instance turning to the left or the right was an issue.
That is the peripheral vision was bad. Today peripheral vision with glasses is no longer considered a luxury. These days things have changed and more people opt for smaller glasses and that is even more restrictive. In keeping with the times, as glasses become smaller the seeing surface is smaller too. With these small frames, most people are forced to look forward or straight ahead.
Contact lenses make a person feel that they don’t have anything wrong with their vision as most often people don’t feel them and they even forget that they are wearing them. Even the others don’t seem to notice them unless they look very closely. Contacts have come as a boon to many as it has opened new avenues for them. These rest easily on the eye and one can see all around them without any restriction of vision. One can look left, right, up, down, and all around. This is something that cannot be done with glasses.
The only difference with contacts is that it has to rest on the eye directly. However, things are changing in the contact lens scenario. Now the contact lens industry is developing contacts that could be worn for a month without a problem and without taking them off. This would mean that one could sleep, eat, play, and work, etc while keeping them on. This would also help in erasing the vision problem out of the mind.
However, like with everything else, these too have their set of pros and cons. Contacts are incapable of correcting short or farsightedness and also astigmatism.
While glasses can correct multiple problems with vision, contacts are made to correct astigmatism. With glasses, colors and sizes may vary but with contacts, everything is as they are.