This is my personal experience with both glasses and contacts – and I’ll start with the pros and cons of each as I see them.
Glasses
Pros
easy to put on
easy to clean
easier upkeep
Cons
annoying
result nose dents over the years
may need to switch between sets of glasses
may need sunglasses over the regular glasses
Contacts
Pros
vision is often better and clearer
freedom from the weight of the glasses frame
nice to have fresh air hitting one’s whole face
you don’t fog ski goggles
Cons
can be expensive
can be time consuming to get them in
they can rip easily
they can pop out and get lost
need to have lots of paraphernalia for their care [lens boxes, cleaners, etc.]
you still need a pair of glasses – for those just in case times
I started wearing reading glasses when I was about 20 and had my driver license stamped “corrective lenses required” when I was about 45. As I am now 70 – that’s 50 years of wearing glasses and 25 years of needing them on all day every day.
As I am far sighted and astigmatic, contacts were not an option until they made them for eyes like mine! At every appointment with an eye doctor, I asked if there were contacts that I could wear and wow was I happy to one day hear “Yes!”
I had trouble getting them in and often reversed the right and left or had them inside out. And sometimes I had trouble removing them but I persisted because I loved not wearing glasses and especially liked that after a short time the dents in my nose disappeared.
Contacts can take some getting used to and learning how to keep right and left separated and seeing convex/concave correctly admittedly can be annoying. There were days I gave up. I set a limit of 3 attempts to get them in and then I gave up and put on my glasses.
As much as there were problems, when they were in, I loved my contacts. Still – over the years my eyes stopped liking the contacts and I had more and more issues with some different lenses. It may have been the prescriptions and I wound up switching eye doctors due to some of these issues.
Additionally, the newer contacts that are only good for 2 weeks cost more and they are also the ones that roll up and rip more easily – so that cost can mount.
But I love contact as I like the wind in my face, the lack of fog when I wear ski goggles and yes although I still need sunglasses – they aren’t on my face and nose 18 hours a day.
Lately I am not wearing contacts as I am going to have cataract surgery which will change my vision. But as soon as I can – I will go right back to contacts – problems and all.
Why? Because contacts make me feel better!
And in the end, one’s choice of wearing glasses or contacts [or a combination of both] is going to come down to two factors: your eyes and your personal preferences!