Eye Care for Teenagers

The question is rarely whether a teenager is old enough. Motivation matters far more than age, and a motivated twelve-year-old frequently manages lenses better than a reluctant sixteen-year-old.

What matters is choosing a modality that survives real teenage life. Daily disposables are the right default for almost every teenager: a fresh sterile lens each day, no cleaning routine, no case to grow biofilm, and no consequence if one is lost at practice. The per-day cost gap with reusables has narrowed considerably, and for a part-time wearer dailies are frequently cheaper overall.

We teach handling properly rather than demonstrating once and sending them away. Insertion, removal, hygiene and, most importantly, what to do when something is wrong. Most teenagers get comfortable within one session, and we do not rush it.

Contact lens complications are uncommon, and the serious one is microbial keratitis, an infection of the cornea that can permanently affect vision. The behaviours that cause it are well documented and almost entirely preventable.

It is common to assume that once a teenager's prescription has been stable for a year the growth is finished. Frequently it is not. Myopia can continue progressing into the late teens and occasionally into the early twenties, particularly with early onset and sustained near work.

That matters for two reasons. Myopia management still has something to work with, so it is worth measuring rather than assuming the window has closed. And a prescription that is still moving rules out laser refractive surgery, which requires stability for at least a year and ideally two.

Orthokeratology is often the option that appeals most at this age. It corrects overnight, so the teenager competes and socialises with nothing on their eyes, and it slows progression at the same time.

Teenagers do more sustained near work than any other age group, between schoolwork and devices, and the symptoms are the same as in adults: tired eyes by evening, blur when looking up from a screen, headaches across the brow. Most of it responds to working distance, breaks and deliberate blinking rather than to any product.

For sport, ordinary glasses are a poor and sometimes hazardous solution. Daily disposables suit most athletes. For anything with a projectile or contact risk, impact-rated protective eyewear is the correct answer and can be made to prescription.

One rule we treat as absolute: any teenager with useful vision in only one eye should wear protective eyewear for every sport, without exception.