First, daily wear lenses are not the same as daily disposable lenses. Daily wear lenses are contact lenses that are specifically designed to only be worn while you are awake. These lenses should be taken out every day and put into solution overnight to clean. You put the same lenses on again the following morning. In contrast, daily disposable lenses are designed to be worn once and then thrown away before you sleep. You will open and put in a new pair the next morning.
Second, disposable doesn’t always mean daily disposable. Some disposable lenses are designed to be worn for around two weeks before they are thrown out. These lenses should still be removed and cleaned at night in the appropriate solution.
Understanding the Benefits
Now that we’ve gotten some of the lingo out of the way, we can discuss the reasons that people would want a daily disposable or single-use lens.The more frequently that we replace our lenses, the less likely they are to become contaminated or harbor harmful bacteria. Reducing the potential for infection can ultimately lead to a healthier eye. Additionally, contact lenses can become damaged or scratched over time. This can lead to eye irritation or infection. When daily disposable contacts are used, it reduces the potential of damage and the number of hours that you may have a damaged contact in your eye.
Typical contact lenses can be prone to buildups of proteins, lipids, or calcium that naturally occur in your tears. Over time, this buildup can cause an infection, and also doesn’t allow the eye to breathe as freely or clear debris from the surface of the eye. Proper daily cleaning can help to remove some of this buildup, but no cleaner can keep the contact lens completely free of buildup. Contacts that are new every day simply don’t have these issues.
The convenience is another benefit of the single-use lens. There are only two ways that you can avoid contact lens care overall. The first is to wear your contact lenses overnight and just never take them out. Unfortunately, this is not a preferred practice and can increase your chances of infection, and shorten the lifespan of your extended wear contact lenses. The other option is to use single-use lenses and throw them out at bedtime and put in a new pair when you awake the next day.
What is Different About Single Use Lenses?
When contact lenses were first created, the manufacturing process was extremely expensive. This made it so that consumers would only be able to afford contact lenses if they could wear them for a longer period of time. Over time, the cost of manufacturing dropped, and many patients could opt for single use lenses rather than monthly or biweekly replacements. While you won’t notice any difference in your vision between single-use and other options, the materials used to create your contacts may be different, although they often aren’t from your typical lens.