Risks and Benefits of Contract Lens treatment

Risks and safety

Contact lens wear increases the risk of eye infection compared to wearing spectacles, with the risks being:

• • 1 per 1,000 wearers per year for reusable soft contact lenses or overnight orthokeratology lenses
  • 1 per 5,000 wearers per year for daily disposable soft contact lenses

With proper hygiene and maintenance procedures, this risk can be well managed – especially by avoiding any contact of water with contact lenses or accessories. Other side effects of contact lenses to control myopia can be temporary adaptation to the different experience of vision, which typically resolves in 1-2 weeks.

Benefits

There are many benefits to children wearing contact lenses:

1. Wearing contact lenses improves children’s self confidence in school and sport, and their satisfaction with their vision – as much as it does for teens
2. Children aged 8-12 years appear to be safer contact lens wearers than teens and adults, with a lower risk of eye infection
3. Children only take 15 minutes more to learn how to handle contact lenses than teens