Should I buy contacts?

Ok I'm 13, and I've had glasses since Grade 4. I am near-sighted, as in, I can't see stuff far away from me. I have slight astigmatism in my left eye. Anyways, I used to not wear my glasses all the time, just to like copy stuff off the board. But since somewhere end of grade 5, beginning of grade 6, I started wearing them ALL the time, cause my eyesight got worst...and I still do.

But now, I want to get contact lenses. i just got my eye exam. Some people have told me I should get contact lenses, cause I'd look better in them. I think so too. But I want to know...are they safe to wear? My mom always says they make your eyes dry and stuff. I've also read they can cause eye damage. But really, are they safe to wear? Are they non irritable, if you get the right ones? And what contact lenses are the right ones?

I haven't used contact lenses before, so I'm not really sure how they work. How do they work? Which types of contact lenses are good? What do you do to keep them good?

And, I'm also kinda worried I might attract to much attention to myself because everyone knows me, expecially my teachers, for wearing my glasses at all times of day. I'm thinking of wearing them on the firts day back from march break..cause it's march break now. Plus, no one else I knows wear's contacts to school they all wear glasses.
16 minutes ago

I think the onyl people that wear contacts are the cosmetic kinds, and I don't even think they wear those to school. But still should I get them?

Please give me any information on contacts, like pros and cons, what brands are good, what are the prices for having contacts, anything!! And if you wear contacts, give me your point of view on them. Thanks :)

I'm 13 years old, in Grade 8, and a girl, if that helps at all :P

Contacts are safe to wear. I'm 13 too and I've had contacts for two years after being told I was near-sighted in the 3rd grade. If you get the right contacts and clean them well, your eyes won't get dry. The only way that you might get an eye infection or have your contacts be irritated and dry is if you don't wash your contacts/change solution enough and your hands while handling the contacts. Your eye doctor will help you choose the contacts you want.

Contacts are just like glasses except they go on your eyeball instead of in front them. They are better than glasses because you can see 360, whereas with glasses you can only see in front. To put them in, you put the contact on your finger (I use my index) and place it in. It takes time to adjust to that part, but you get used to it quickly. To keep contacts in good shape, just clean them, change the solution out often, and you store them overnight in a contact lens case. If you get disposable contacts , make sure you change the contacts out once a month, or the chances of your eyesight getting worse and getting an infection is higher. Taking good care of your contacts is important.

As for looking different with contacts, yes you will look different, but it won't be bad! When I first got my contacts, everyone said I looked really different, but they liked it. Now whenever I wear glasses they say I look very different. Wearing contacts isn't that obvious, either.

I get disposable contacts. The pro's are: I feel more confident while wearing contacts. I see all around me instead of looking down and stuff being blurry. I don't have to mess with them in the daytime. Easy transport. See clearer while wearing them.
The con's are: getting eye infections...but that hasn't happened to me ever in my two years of owning contacts! As long as you clean them, they're good.

I definitely say you should get contacts. They're better than glasses (in my opinion). Getting them over a break is a good idea. I got my contacts during the summer and then went back to school with them. =)

I basically was in the same situation as you. I got glasses in third grade and I finally got contacts in 6th grade (after begging my parents forever). I wanted them because I hated wearing glasses and I thought I would look better without them. You should definitely get contacts, but you must know that having them is a pretty big responsibility, especially when you first get them. You have to make sure to clean them every time you put them on and put them in new solution every night. Lots of people don't do these things on a routine basis and they end up with some eye problems in the long run. Look, if you believe you are responsible enough to get them, then you should definitely get some. They are for sure safe to wear, but you may have some problems depending on your eyes. The first kind of contacts I got made my eyes dry out a lot, so I went to the eye doctor and switched from regular Acuvue contacts to Acuvue OASYS contacts which breathe better and give more oxygen to your eyes. Your eye doctor can probably make the decision of what contacts are right for you and if you get them and have some irritability, go back to your doctor and tell them that. They can change your contacts based on what problems you are having. Contacts are kind of plastic-like and you just put them on your finger (after rinsing them with a contact solution) and put them on your eye. They are a little tricky to get used to putting them in your eyes but once you get used to them, they're a piece of cake. If I were you, I would get disposable contacts because if you lose one or it rips or something you always have some back-ups. As long as you make sure to clean them properly every time you wear them, you should be able to keep your contacts wearable for at least a month (even though you are only supposed to wear them for about 2 weeks before throwing them away). I just can't stress enough how much you need to keep them clean because I have friends who don't take very good care of them and they end up having problems with their contacts falling out and being irritating all the time. Finally, I would say that if you do end up getting them, that you should get them on a weekend or when you have a break in school. Then you can practice putting them in and taking them out so when you have to put them in in the morning on a school day, you're already used to putting them in. Hope that helps!

Sorry I wrote so much :]

Also: I use Opti-Free solution which you can use for storing them overnight and for rinsing in the morning.