Before diving into a discussion about getting contacts online without a current prescription, let’s make sure that we know what we mean when we talk about ‘prescription contact lenses’.
This does not mean lenses that you need a prescription to get, it means lenses which are prescribed to correct an eyesight defect. These lenses have a strength, or power, and if someone with perfect vision wears them then they will not be able to see properly. This is like someone with 2020 vision putting on someone else’s glasses.
There are contact lenses which are non-prescription. These are the equivalent of glasses with clear glass lenses. They are not designed to correct vision. This type of lens is also know as plano, or zero-strength. A typical plano contact lens will be colored or tinted but there are also colored contacts which are supplied for sight correction.
To sum up, prescription contact lenses are those which are supplied to correct vision, and they may also be colored.
Can you get these lenses online without prescription? ‘Almost certainly’ is the answer, but not necessarily legally, for the same reasons that it is usually impossible to get prescription lenses in a shop without an up to date prescription.
In many countries it is illegal to supply or buy lenses for sight correction if the customer has not got a prescription. This makes sense, after all, how do you know what strength lenses to buy if you have not had a test and been prescribed lenses?
But what if you have an old prescription? Unfortunately, the laws will probably stop you using this. You will normally need not only a prescription but an up to date prescription too. Before you start complaining about it being your right to do what you like with your eyes, it’s worth remembering how easy it is to damage your eyes if your eyes are not suited to wearing contacts or if you put unsuitable lenses into your eyes. Even if you don’t like the law, the effect of the rules can only benefit you.
You can sometimes get colored lenses online without a prescription, Canada is one such country where it is not illegal to supply such lenses (as long as they are non-prescription, plano lenses), but even then, the same precautions should be applied. It’s always better to have your eyes tested and to get a current prescription before buying prescription contact lenses online.