Contacts vs. Glasses

I wore glasses for about 25 years and a few months ago, switched to contacts. Beforehand I expected it would be a fairly arduous process, having sat with my husband through hishour-long trial fitting; learning to touch the eye seems about as desirable as learning to touch a cobra. But he seemed to like wearing them. A few months ago I tried day and night contacts that you wear 24/7 for 3-4 weeks at a time and was struck by how much I love this. I realized there are over a dozen ways it benfitted me that I didn't expect. 

From being a wearer instead of an observer I feel a huge change in life's little things from using contacts.

So, for whatever use it will be to others, here's my contrast sheet of the two that I have found.

and need to clean so often, kleenex may be "with lotion" that smears them worse

Glasses	Contacts
enter each day blind	can see as soon as my eyes open - like a miracle cure!
enter the shower blind	so that's what the soap looks like
feeling around for glasses I can't see	can put on mascara and makeup and can see what I'm doing
make a statement	quite enough of my body is speaking already without frames chiming in, have personality enough
I have goggles against wind	I got dust blown in my eyes more until my body re-learned to blink reactively
when I come inside I fog up, have raindrops or melting snow blocking my vision	new sensations when I walk outside I can feel rain and snow fall on my eyelids, eyelashes, on the top of my cheeks that were always protected by lenses
old ones can be donated away  to the 3rd world	I have to throw these expensive things out every month
I can make do for 5 or 6 years with the same prescription or frames	It's more expensive to buy 6 or 12 month batches of contacts
some new frames take a week or two to come in after being ordered, other ones, only an hour	got the trial pair in the same apppointment as the eye test
titanium frames can't be welded, apparently, and there seems to be few standards for screw types if a screw works itself loose but if it breaks in the hands of the store worker, they'll fix it at their cost	can't be "fixed" only replaced, at your cost.
keep needing adjustment by someone else with a hot sand machine and it seems to rarely be done right, pressing too hard on the ears or else slipping down the nose	if they're blurry or uncomfortable I can fix it. I've become very aware of how I treat my body. whenever I miss too much sleep, my eyes don't get enough watering in the night and feel dry.
the pain of shopping for new frames without being able to see for myself what I look like, getting my hair cut with my glasses off and not being able to see what she's doing	judging for myself, real time
deal with salepeople cyclically who have opinions on what my fashion should be based on my face shape (which incidentally is round, heart-shaped, long or just off perfect square depending on the clerk or haircutter)	deal with a doctor cyclically who has knowledge and machines to test my vision
bumping frame edges into things	no problems with pullovers catching, poking or colliding when lying down or hugging
forces my hand to my face more to adjust and fuss, reinforcing self-conscious gestures	hands can twiddle safely out of sight when necessary
stress of fumbling around, figuring out where I left my eyes, glasses getting stepped on, dropped off a table (not an issue that applies to a lot of organized people I know but I've stepped on a pair every 5 or 7 years)	on my face which I have lost and gained but never once forgotten or misplaced. Foot in mouth is as close as I've gotten to stepping on it. new lenses are tucked away in bubble pack in small box until needed.
when I lean over railings or am at a sports game, tightness in my chest of worry that my glasses may fall off or be knocked off, and be scratched or broken	It's a medical device in direct contact with my organs of vision. If I am stubborn and wear them longer than I should, my eyes get red and vision blurs and I could permanently damage my eyes with carelessness
cleaning liquid uncomfortable off-gassing, tissues never at hand	can put them on backwards and have to take them out and try again. need to be conscious to keep them wet when putting them in and if I don't wear them for a day to change the water
I swim blind because I'm not going to spring for prescription goggles	I can swim with normal goggles
smudging	clear vision, sharper than with my glasses and better peripheral vision, no "ghosts" (reflections and frames) to filter out
before I go to sleep the whole room goes blurry	I can see the stars as I fall asleep

A couple notes of bottom line clarification:

Glasses and contacts are covered by some private or work insurances in Ontario, but not covered by provincial health insurance. My job doesn't have any coverage for medical devices such as these but fortunately my husband's work does have partial coverage.

Costs locally vary for glasses anywhere from $60 to $600 Canadian. Contacts vary in price depending on whether they are meant for wearing for 3 hours a day, 8 hours or 24 hours and for how long of cycle. Costs also vary on eye shape (some people have perfect spheres, some people don't) and whether you want them tinted or not. For my type, the year's prescription is in the upper half of the range for glasses but per year.    

The little unexpected bit of ease in the day added up to a great benefit. Each month, with this particular kind I have, you take a day or two off with glasses to "rest" your eyes. I wouldn't want to go back to full-time glasses.

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