Contact lenses are medical devices and are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act . Rigid, or hard, contact lenses made from plastic were first produced in the U.S. between 1938-1940, while soft contact lenses were first introduced to the U.S. in 1971. Ninety percent of contact lens wearers use soft contact lenses.

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An estimated 45 million people in the U.S. wear contact lenses. Two-thirds of contact lens wearers are female. The average age of contact lens wearers worldwide is 31 years old. An estimated 8% of contact lens wearers are under 18 years old, 17% are between ages 18-24, and 75% of adults age 25 and older wear contacts.

People can use many different methods to improve their vision, and no single method is the best solution for everyone. Contact lenses are one of several effective options.
Contact lenses can help people see better without affecting their appearance or interfering with many sports and activities. Some children and teens report feeling dramatically better about their appearance when wearing contact lenses.
Compared to wearing glasses, children switching to contact lenses reported significant improvements in the areas of perceived appearance, participation in activities, and satisfaction with vision correction.
Specially designed contact lenses can improve the ability to focus and temporarily reduce poor distance vision (near-sightedness) in certain contact lens wearers.

Serious eye infections that can lead to blindness affect up to 1 out of every 500 contact lens users per year. Not following proper contact lens care instructions has been linked to outbreaks of serious eye infections. Between 40%-90% of contact lens wearers do not properly follow the care instructions for their contact lenses. Approximately 99% of respondents reported at least one contact lens hygiene behavior previously associated with an increased risk of eye infection or inflammation. Improper cleaning and irregular replacement of contact lenses and contact lens cases—as well as other behaviors relating to contact lens hygiene and care—have been linked to a higher risk of complications.
Keratitis—a painful eye infection often linked to improper contact lens use—leads to 1 million doctor and hospital visits annually, at a cost of $175 million to the US healthcare system.