When daily disposable contact lenses were introduced in 1987, they marked a real turning point for lens wearers and are still popular today. Indeed daily wear lenses are the most widely used contacts in the UK.
Unlike their predecessors, they can be worn for a certain period of time and then thrown away and replaced with a new pair. As a result they are less likely to attract sediment build up than longer wear lenses.
Proteins, lipids and calcium which your eyes produce naturally in your tears can build up on your lenses in the form of deposits. They can make your contact lenses feel uncomfortable to wear and more importantly can lead to eye infections.
With longer wear lenses, you have to clean them regularly to avoid sediment build up. However, daily wear contact lenses are thrown away (usually at the end of every day) which means that you do not have to do this.
As they are disposed of regularly, daily disposable contact lenses offer real benefits in terms of convenience.
Optometrists often recommend daily disposable contact lenses to children and people with hectic lifestyles. This is because they are so easy to look after and pose less risk of eye infections or other disorders.
Most people are able to wear daily lenses if they want to. However, it is advisable to confirm that they are suitable for you with your optometrist first. He or she will be able to tell you whether your current contact lens prescription is available in a daily disposable format.
It is possible that you might not be able to wear daily disposable lenses if your prescription is not very common. If this is the case, there still may be an opportunity for you to find a more frequent replacement lens than the one you are currently wearing.