Question
Dr. Berger,
I have a 11 year old son who is supposed to wear glasses but refuses to wear them to school. He wants contacts but his eye doctor doesn't want to give him contacts until he is 14 years old. What is the best age to start wearing contacts? Also, I have a slimy looking think on my eyeball next to the colored part of my eye. It doesn't hurt or make my eyes water but it makes my eye look red. Someone told me it could be a tear duct. Are tear ducts actually on the surface of the eye? Thank you so much for your time.
Answer
Dear Tanya:
I don't know why your doctor makes age 14 the cutoff age. Frankly there are 10 year olds who are more responsible and mature than some 16 year olds. So, in my practice, if the child is motivated and determined, and who will accept the responsibilty of caring for the contact lenses and his eyes, then he is a good candidate for vision correction using this modality. I have fit contact lenses to 8 year olds and infants who have had congenital cataracts removed, but of course the parents must learn to apply , remove , and care for the contact lenses. As far as the "slimy-looking thing" on your eyeball next to the colored part (cornea/iris), it sounds to me like you are describing a pingecula, which can appear as a yellowish bump on the lateral aspect of the bulbar conjunctiva and is nothing more than a benign degeneration of elastic tissue and does not need to be treated unless it becomes red, irritated, and vascularized, or invades the clear cornea from the side of the eye to interfere with vision. Hope this helps you.
Dr. Ken
