Goggles or Contacts for Sports?

I wear disposable contacts - put a new pair in in the morning, and throw it away after I take it out. I would never wear them to bed.

I have no reason to take them out and then put them back in, and my doctor suggested I never do that. I suppose that's a possibility, but in general he would probably just put them in the morning and take them out at night.

I don't see a reason you would need to worry about him not changing them.

I don't know prices or if it is much different for goggles, but if you haven't, at least look at Zenni. I helped my mom get measurements and select a pair of glasses about a month ago, b/c she was told by her eye doctor that the glasses she already had were adequate (some really old ones, but she had cataracts removed, so her vision is much better and her newer glasses are no longer the right prescription for her), but the older ones are, well, old, and not in such great shape--even though the prescription is ok.

She was reluctant to go shell out over $400 for a pair of progressive lenses at an eye doctor's office. She ordered through Zenni, and got a pair (in the mail, in less than 2 weeks) for about $50 (including shipping). She loves them! And she couldn't be happier that she saved over $300.

Now, I don't know if goggles will solve all the issues for your son (never tried them myself, never did a sport with a helmut after I started wearing glasses really.. hats, yes, helmets no).
But, if you are game, you could price a pair online and try them.
Otherwise, contact lenses are really the best solution for sports. Your peripheral vision is perfect with contacts, and no fogging up lenses from sweat, or dripped sweat making smeared, blurry lenses to try to see through.

The eye doctor can give him a trial pair and see how he does.
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ETA:
Yes, you will need certain measurements like PPD and bridge size, arm length, etc. But Zenni's website has a frequently asked Q section and walks you through where to find or how to take those measurements yourself. Don't be scared of that part. We measured my mom's PPD with a sewing measuring tape (only one in her house that had mm markings on it), and were even ordered progressive lenses! She says she can see perfectly out of them.

My daughter has been wearing contacts since she was 8 years old. The eye doctor told me that he has found kids are more compliant than adults but if you are really concerned your son could wear daily lenses. They are quite a bit more expensive (my oldest wears daily lenses) but there are really no issues with hygiene as long as he washes his hand before putting them in and taking them out.

I understand your concerns about contacts but honestly he probably WOULD do well with them because unlike unbrushed teeth or smelly armpits dirty contacts actually hurt and cause poor vision, so I doubt he would slack about keeping them clean and stored properly. At least give it a try.

Helmet-compatible sports glasses are your best bet, but they are not cheap to get from the optometrist. If his current glasses are shatterproof and fit under the helmet without bending, that's okay too.

All four people in my household wear glasses. When it comes to regular daily wear glasses, I've bought from the optometrist, but also online from Zenni Optical, 39DollarGlasses, and EyeBuyDirect with great success.

My husband's last pair of regular glasses was under $20 including shipping from Zenni. I see they have sports goggles for about $30. For online orderes, you'll need to know what frame size he needs as well as a pupil distance measurement.

Hi J.B.,

My son's sports goggles do not fit under his lacrosse helmet, so I wouldn't order anything online since you don't know whether any of those will fit under your son's helmet. Then, you'd be stuck with an expensive pair of goggles. My son likes to wear his sports goggles more than his regular glasses, so it wasn't a total loss, except for the regular frames that he hardly ever wears.

We got my son's sports goggles at his eye doctor. I'm sure we paid more than we would have at a chain or online, but they are so good with him and we can walk in anytime---even without an appointment---and have them make any adjustments he needs.

So far, he's been able to play without the goggles during the games (at least this past season), but I am concerned at our next exam, we may find out he needs them all the time. If that's the case, we are going to be in the same situation as you, and our little 11 year-old's hygiene is just as you describe with your son, so we can't imagine how he'd manage contacts.

At the time my son got his glasses, I just let him choose based on the frames he liked. Now, we're going to bring the helmet with us next time to see if there are any types of frames that fit under them. I'll be looking forward to other responses you get. Maybe some sports goggles are better than others for fitting under helmets.

That's been our experience. Let us know what you find out.

On a completely different note, it is so nice to hear of all of the happy and positive things happening in your life now! So happy for you!

I would go with the sports goggles. One day he will mature and impress you in the hygiene area, but it is too risky to mess with the eyes.

I thought a parent told me they got their child's goggles at Walmart. I would pay the least possible because let's face it, the goggles are ugly and there's not much you can do about it. Soon I will be looking for them for my daughter as well. We will NOT be going the contact route and for the very same reasons. Most of the kids take the goggles off right along with the helmet and you never see them.

I did see a parent squirting a drop of Dawn dish soap on the goggles for hockey. He rubbed it in with his fingers and wiped them clean with a dry paper towel. He said it was to keep the fog off of them.

At this age I'd put a strap on the back of the glasses and make sure the frame wasn't going to snap or gouge him if they break.

Contacts are going to fly out if he's impacted and googles would look weird to me so I'd imagine they'd look odd to other kids.

My kid has a friend in hockey who wears a strap around the back of his head for his glasses. It keeps them in place, and it fits under his helmet. Wonder if that would work for you - for the helmet dilemma.

Personally, I'd let him try disposable lenses. I switched to them at his age and loved them. So much easier than having glasses fly off in sports and my vision was just so much better.

My disposables are about as low maintenance as you can get - they are not dailies (which would be even more user friendly) but I just stick them in their case with some solution.

So long as he can wash his hands, that's about as hygienic as you need to be :) I have a grubby child too so I can relate.