Daily Disposable Contact Lenses

The following information is taken from the Daily Disposable Contact Lenses pamphlet you can find in our office. If are interested in a contact lens fitting or examination, please schedule an appointment.

 

Soft Contact Lens Types

There are many types of soft contact lenses. There are lenses of many different curvatures and sizes to fit your eye just right. There are lenses that can correct for astigmatism and presbyopia to give you great vision even if you have a difficult prescription.

However, the key component of soft lenses is how long they are good for before we need to throw them away. Soft lenses are made of many different materials. The material controls the way the lens fits on your eye, the comfort of the lens,  and how much oxygen is transmitted to your eye. Since the cornea (the clear part of the eye that a contact lens sits on top of) gets its oxygen from the environment, this oxygen transmissibility is important. The recommended disposal schedule for these lenses is how long you can safely and comfortably wear each lens and it’s different for each lens.

Soft Contact Lens Disposal Types

• Daily Disposable

• 2-Week Replacement

• 1 Month Replacement

• Extended Wear (wearing lenses day and night for 30 days, then replacing)

Comfort

Throughout the day, our contacts are exposed to the environment. Whether it’s dust and debris  or deposits from our own tears, our contacts can get more uncomfortable by the end of the day.

Studies have confirmed this. 79% of contact lens wearers report ocular discomfort. 77% of patients report dryness. It’s these symptoms that are the main reasons people stop wearing contact lenses.

The advantage of a daily disposable is that each day you start with a fresh lens that is free of all those built-up irritants. Studies show that daily disposable lenses have less deposits and increased satisfaction with lens wear versus 2-week and monthly replacement lenses.

     Daily disposables are especially good for those of us who suffer from seasonal allergies. Pollen, dust, dander, and other allergens that build up on a lens in a given day are thrown away with each new lens. 67% of patients with allergy  symptoms experienced increased comfort with a daily disposable contact lens vs. a month lens.

Safety

Along with all the other things that can build on our contact lenses throughout the day, bacteria can as well . Microbial Keratitis is a severe, painful, and potentially sight-threatening condition caused by this bacterial growth on contact lenses. The risk of getting this condition can be limited by being compliant with our contact lenses (following the normal wear schedule, not sleeping in unapproved lenses, daily use of new solution including rubbing and rinsing the lens, etc.)

Studies have shown that people in the daily disposable modality of contact lenses are more compliant than those in 1 month and 2 week replacement modalities and also experience fewer contact-lens related complications. One study found that 82% of patients in daily disposable lenses were compliant with their lenses vs. 34% for 1-month replacement lenses and 25% for 2-week replacement lenses. Other studies have shown that when patients do have complications, they are less severe on average if they are wearing daily disposable lenses.

What’s the next step

At Eyecare Associates of Ankeny, we recommended daily disposables to people who want comfortable, healthy contact lenses that meet with today’s busy schedules. Dailies are available even now for people with astigmatism or require a bifocal or multifocal correction.

Sources

1. Nichols, Jason. The Shifting Prescribing Paradigm. Contact Lens Spectrum. 6/1/2013

2. Yeung, Karen and Stephanie Makalintal. Daily Disposables: Prescribing Trends and Pipleine Lenses. Review of Cornea and Contact Lenses. 6/18/2010

3. Bowling, Ernie. Daily Disposables – a great lens choice for your patients. Optometry Times. 8/22/2013