For contacts, it's incredibly frustrating when your eyes barely change over many years, but prescriptions only last two years (or one, depending on state). You

For contacts, it's incredibly frustrating when your eyes barely change over many years, but prescriptions only last two years (or one, depending on state). You may need to resupply on contacts, but are not able to purchase them without a new prescription. You can be 1 year and 11 months into your prescription and buy 4 years worth of lenses, but at the two year mark, you can't purchase them at all without another visit to the doctor and explicit approval for a specific prescription. My particular annoyance is that I usually buy a year or two worth of lenses at a time - one set usually lasts a month, but I don't wear them every day. So I can stretch out the time a bit further. By the time I'm down to my last set and want to resupply, I'm required to visit an optometrist. Spending money on another eye exam that tells me nothing new. It's even more frustrating if I completely run out and have to use a set longer than is ideal while waiting for an opportunity to visit a doctor. I get that wearing the wrong prescription lenses isn't ideal, but I don't understand why prescription lenses are gatekept like narcotics. If you can't see well or have the wrong prescription, there's a natural incentive to visit an optometrist and figure out exactly what you need.