I think the only time the number 2020 will ever be thought of in a positive light again will be at your eye doctor's office. That's because most of us regard 20/20 vision as the benchmark for impeccable eyesight. The year 2020, not so much perfection and I'd hazard a guess that a lot of us don't want to "see" any more of what this year has to offer.

That being said one of the "positives" of this pandemic year has been a sudden leap in the sales of contact lenses. The reason? All those face mask mandates. Now, if you don't wear glasses you won't understand, but if you do, you know how foggy things can get in a face mask. 

Many eye care professionals around Louisiana are reporting a surge in sales of this on the eye replacement for glasses. Now, if you've never worn contact lenses and you're thinking of getting them, there are some things you need to know.

While they won't fog up when you wear a face mask, contacts come with their own unique set of issues. There are the daily cleaning and care that's required to keep them sanitary and your eyes protected. Or, you might opt for the daily wear contact lenses. That at least eliminates the sanitizing component but you still have to wash your hands a lot.

In my experience with contacts, there's also the dreaded dry eye syndrome. That's where your contact lens feels like a piece of sandpaper when your eyeball gets drier than it needs to be. Trust me it can happen because of allergies, irritants, or just because you have a small piece of plastic stuck in your eye. It's very uncomfortable.

Still others, with much steadier hands, have no issues at all wearing contact lenses. When they are in and they are comfortable they are a joy. But to get to that point you'll need to go through your eye care professional. They will evaluate your eyesight and your eyes. Then they will write your prescription and teach you all you need to know about living in a world without eyeglasses.

During my brief time of wearing contact lenses, I did enjoy the freedom of being able to choose different styles of sunglasses, so you'd have that going for you too. Oh, and the contacts never fogged up once, not even when I was wearing a Halloween mask. So, there are advantages but it would be up to you to see if those advantages are worth the extra few minutes proper contact lens care requires.