Disposable Contact Lenses & All You Need To Know About Them

How Are Biweekly Lenses Different From Other Lenses?

It's been common knowledge that replacing lenses often is the healthy thing to do. When contacts were first released, disposable lenses were more expensive than they are today. Now, we are lucky enough have all types of disposable contact lenses at affordable prices that can either be discarded or replaced at the end of each day. There’s no need for extensive cleaning and they are easy to keep a schedule of how often they should be changed. Monthly disposable contacts are a nice alternative to more frequently replaced lenses as they are only replaced 12 times a year.

Biweekly disposable contact lenses stand out as they bridge the benefits of daily and monthly contacts by offering the highlights of both. The biggest confusion, and mistake, comes from the name of the contacts. There are daily wear contact lenses, which are discarded daily and then there are the biweekly daily wear lenses that are thrown out every two weeks.

Pros & Cons Of Biweekly Disposable Contact Lenses

One of the positives about these lenses is that you won’t have to use a new pair every day. Biweekly contact lenses are convenient, healthy, and affordable, and when cared for properly, they carry little to no risk. Plus, they can correct most vision problems.

Although these lenses are made to be worn for days at a time, they should still be cleaned before their scheduled replacement date to avoid complications. Sleeping with any type of contact lens increases one’s risk of infection. The best way to avoid this is to not sleep with your contact lenses in every night. However, every type of contact lens also has its downsides. Some of the cons of biweekly disposable contact lenses is that many people forget when it is time to replace their contacts, or intentionally wait as to save money. This results in restriction of the flow of oxygen to the eye which can lead to serious health problems.

Also, these contact lenses need to be cleaned regularly to ensure that they are good and healthy to use and by ignoring the cleaning process we can contract serious health problems. In some cases, people who have sensitive eyes will experience discomfort by the end of the second week.

Pros & Cons Of Daily Disposable Contact Lenses

The simple fact that you don’t have to clean this type of lens is already a plus. Lipids, and other kinds of substances that are naturally present in our tears, can pile up on contact lenses. These deposits make wearing lenses uncomfortable and also make our eyes more prone to infections. Even when we clean them, we can’t clean all the deposits, which means some will remain and accumulate on our lenses over time. Thus, daily disposable lenses are very convenient because they don’t need cleaning unless you drop them onto the floor or an unclean surface. They are also healthy because there is no day-to-day accumulation of lens deposits. Daily disposable contacts are easy to get used to since they are more comfortable and there is no itchiness or discomfort.

The drawback of theses lenses is the cost. Generally, they are more expensive than lenses used for extended periods of time. Cost can vary, depending on the brand and the lens material. Daily disposable contact lenses made from silicone hydrogel materials are often positioned by lens manufacturers as "premium" daily disposables with the greatest benefit and the highest cost. Also, daily disposable lenses might not be available for certain uncommon prescriptions, and certain specialty soft contact lenses, such as color contacts and theatrical contact lenses, are not available in daily disposable form. Most of the problems with these lenses arise from non-compliance with the prescribed wear schedule.