“Why do I see better with contacts than glasses?”

Great question! The closer you move the correction to the focal point or nodal point, the more clearly you will see. Contacts place the correction closer to this point. Contacts also improve vision if you have any irregular astigmatism because the tear film fills in the irregularities and improves clarity. Make sure to wear your contacts as directed as over wear can lead to infections and scarring.

Yes this is normal. Contacts sit right on the eye so there can be less of a distortion than when wearing glasses.

It has to do with the optics of the eye. The eye is like a camera and the retina in the back of the eye is similar to the film. Glasses and contacts correct the focus of the eye. The closer the focusing lens is to the retina in the eye, the clearer the image will be. So, it is normal and expected for vision with contacts to be better than vision with glasses.

Alan J. Franklin, MD, PhD

Contacts smooth your corneal irregularities.

Hi,

Your glasses prescription may be out of date and need to be updated. It is also possible for contact lenses to smooth out irregularities of the corneal surface. The contact lens can create a "liquid lens" under it which improves vision. This is especially true if you have keratoconus but can occur if you don't have keratoconus as well.

Lastly, it can depend on how you define "better." If "better" refers to blur, then the above applies. If "better" refers to the size of the image, then it is true that images with glasses can look smaller than with contact lenses. The closer a lens is to the eye the less minification will occur in the setting of nearsightedness.

Take care!