Buying contact lenses without a prescription seems to be a top priority for a great many people. Vast numbers of people wear contacts and have had their lives transformed in so doing. Traditionally, getting contact lenses would have involved a trip to the optician and a few weeks of waiting for the lenses to arrive. But in the age of the internet people want things quickly. We’ve become accustomed to being able to order just about anything from the comfort of our homes and having things arrive the next day. So why not contacts? We’ve got an old prescription, we know what strength lenses we need, why not order up a new box with a few clicks of the mouse?
If you’ve already tried ordering contacts without a prescription then you’ve probably found that it isn’t so simple. You can buy lenses over the internet, but for some reason many sites want to see evidence of a current prescription. And this usually means a prescription that you obtained in the last year.
Why do sites selling contact lenses insist on seeing a prescription? Well, in many parts of the world it’s the law. You simply are not allowed to buy or sell contact lenses if you do not have an up to date prescription. This is usually true both of prescription lenses, that is, lenses for correcting your vision, and cosmetic contact lenses, which usually means colored lenses (also known as plano, or zero-strength lenses). There is some confusion surrounding Canada. Many people think that it is legal to sell contacts without a prescription in Canada but this is not true. The usual laws apply here too, but with one exception. Currently, cosmetic lenses do not fall within the legislation and so may be legally supplied.
Why does the law think that it has the right to interfere with your right to buy contact lenses? It’s an interesting question. Your eyes are delicate objects and are essentially irreplaceable. It’s easy to damage them by putting anything into them if you don’t know what you are doing or if your lenses have not been assessed as being suitable for your eyes. Rightly or wrongly, governments often think that they know best and legislate to try to stop you taking risks with your health.
Whether or not you believe that it is your right to do what you like with your eyes, the fact remains that not all eyes are suitable for lenses, and not all contact lenses are suitable for all eyes. If you do want to buy contact lenses without a prescription then my top tip is this: Don’t. The risk isn’t worth it. Not only that, a regular eye test can pick up on any other problems you might have with your eyes. For the small extra effort involved, it’s well worth getting a prescription.