Contacts

phone So you want to wear contact lenses. Well, you're not alone. Let's take a quick look at who is wearing contact lenses today.

  • Over 30 million Americans wear contact lenses
  • Two-thirds of all contact lens wearers are female
  • Ten percent are age 18 or under
  • Fifteen percent are between the ages of 18-24
  • Fifty percent are 25 to 44 years old
  • Most contact lens wearers are nearsighted
  • Eighty percent wear daily wear soft lenses
  • Over fifty percent wear 1 to 2 Week disposable lenses
  • Fifteen percent wear extended wear soft lenses
  • Fifteen percent wear GP (gas permeable) lenses
  • More than 80 percent of contact lens wearers go to an optometrist for their eye care.
  • More than 97 percent of the practicing doctors of optometry offer contact lens services
Advantages & Disadvantages to different types of lenses

Source: Contact Lens Institute, May 2003