“Are lenses better than glasses?”

At times, if you are extremely nearsighted, farsighted, or have a great degree of astigmatism in your prescription.

Best Regards,

Duane M. Bryant, M.D., M.S.

Do you mean contact lenses v. eyeglasses? Contacts require more care and handling, but provide comfortable vision when the right prescription and size is prescribed. Eyeglasses can be comfortable but obviously sit on the front of the face which some find objectionable. They do provide protection that contacts do not as they are a barrier from the outside world.

Lenses or contacts each have their own benefits and suboptimalities depending upon your own examination and needs. I would suggest that you be evaluated by an ophthalmologist who can prescribe both. You can then determine which, if not both, is right for you.

If by lenses you mean contact lenses and not intraocular lenses, which require surgery, then I would say they are somewhat equivalent. Contact lenses require a trained ophthalmologist or optometrist to examine the eye to be assured that no disease process exists within the eye or on the corneal surface (the tissue upon which the contact rests). He or she will then take measurements of the curvature of each eye and determine the shape of each eye and determines the substance that the contact lens should be made from. This is a firm plexiglass material for a hard contact lens or an acrylic gel that is the flexible soft lens. If no disease exists then a training time should be set aside to allow you to learn How to put these lenses onto the corneal surface and, how to take them out. Though soft lenses are more comfortable to most than hard lenses, they can be placed back to front and not provide good enough vision.
Intraocular lenses are now routinely placed after cataract surgery. They take the place of the natural lens that was within your eye and can be used to create good vision at all ranges, often without the need for glasses. Intraocular lenses must be surgically implanted with in the eye and are a higher level of risk. These surgeries are only performed by a qualified ophthalmologist who has gone through four years of medical school before entering the three-year Ophthalmology training program. Some eye specialists specialize in contact lens related practices. They are either an optometrist or an ophthalmologist, or an office that has both.

Roger Ohanesian, MD

It is a personal preference. Contact lenses are needed to be kept clean and taken out as directed as to avoid eye irritation.

One not better than the other...personal preference

Nothing is better, it’s all relative.

Not really. It's more dangerous with contacts as eye infections can occur and cause blindness if not treated in time