Disposable Contacts: A Healthy Choice

Introduced in 1987, disposable contacts are designed to be worn for a specific period of time, then thrown out and replaced with a fresh pair of lenses. Disposables are now the most common type of contact lenses. Many eye care practitioners and consumers favor disposable contacts because of their health and convenience benefits.

It's important to understand the terminology:

• Disposable lenses = replaced every two weeks, or sooner
• Frequent replacement lenses = replaced monthly or quarterly
• Traditional (reusable) lenses = replaced every six months or longer

The term "disposable" often collectively refers to both disposable and frequent replacement lenses.

A common source of confusion about contact lenses involves replacement and removal intervals:

• Replacement schedule refers to how often your lenses are discarded and replaced — that is, whether they are disposable, frequent replacement or reusable.
   
• Wearing schedule refers to how often you remove your contacts (but don't necessarily discard and replace them). Daily wear means you remove them each night. Extended wear means you sleep in them.

Disposable contacts can be prescribed either for daily wear or extended wear, depending on your eye physiology and needs.

The more frequently you replace your contact lenses, the healthier and more comfortable your eyes can be. Substances like protein, calcium, and lipids — found naturally in your tears — can build up on your lenses. These deposits make your contacts less comfortable than when they were new, and can also make your eyes more prone to infection.

Of course, you can always clean your lenses, but disposable lenses save you some (but not all!) of the time and trouble of doing this.

There are two ways to avoid just about all contact lens care. One is to sleep in your lenses, and then replace your lenses periodically. Unfortunately, sleeping in lenses is not a good idea for everyone (to learn more, see our article on extended wear), and sleeping in contact lenses slightly increases your risk of eye problems.

The other alternative is daily disposables, also called one-day disposables: contacts that you discard every night, and replace in the morning with a new pair. Many eye care professionals and contact lens wearers feel that this option offers the best of both worlds. It's convenient because there is no lens cleaning at all. It's healthy because there is no day-to-day lens deposit buildup, and because there is no increased risk of eye problems due to sleeping in lenses.

Even before the advent of disposable lenses, it was well known that frequent lens replacement was a healthy thing to do. Problem was, contacts were too expensive to discard very often — so various cleaning solutions and devices were used to prolong the life of the lens.
 

Then contact lens manufacturers developed new manufacturing methods to produce high-quality lenses in greater volume, at lower cost. These advances led to lower lens prices, making it affordable to replace lenses more often. Some of today's disposable lenses are made of the same materials as traditional lenses; other disposables are made from new materials developed especially for disposability.

The cost of being fitted with contact lenses varies widely, depending on where you live, the eye care practitioner you choose, and how complicated your prescription is. The incremental cost of choosing disposables over traditional lenses is slight, and is somewhat offset by the reduced need for cleaning products.

Even daily disposable lenses are more affordable than many people expect. For about $1 per day, you can wear daily disposables. Also, with daily disposables you'll eliminate the cost of lens cleaning products.

Yes, you probably can. An eye care practitioner can tell you for sure. The key is whether your particular prescription is available as a disposable lens. Today there is quite a selection of disposable and frequent replacement contacts, including colored contacts that change your eye color, others that correct for astigmatism, and bifocal disposable contacts.

If your prescription is less common, you might not be able to get disposable lenses, but frequent replacement lenses might be available to you. For an unusual prescription or specialty product, you may need to wear traditional lenses. Your eye care practitioner can offer you advice on this. The good news: If you wear traditional lenses, at least lens cleaning is easier than ever before (learn more about this).

This has more to do with your eyes than with the contacts themselves. Sure, certain lenses are made to be replaced at certain intervals. But your frequency of replacement depends more on how your eyes behave while wearing lenses. Some people's eyes produce more protein and lipids than others, and their lenses may need to be replaced more frequently. And if you suffer from allergies, you might find that your lenses need to be replaced often, especially during peak allergy seasons.

A thorough evaluation by your eyecare professional can help determine the best wearing schedule and replacement schedule for you.