99% of all contact lenses prescribed in the UK are disposable. This means that they are taken out and disposed of with regular intervals, either daily, two-weekly or monthly. However, this is a relatively young phenomenon.
Until 1987, only non-disposable contact lenses were available. They were taken out at night, cleaned and stored in a lens case, and put back in the morning every day for up to a year. Today, many Opticians are reluctant to prescribe them, as they tend to create far more problems than disposables.
When disposable contact lenses came around, they became popular immediately. In 1992, tinted disposables were made available, and three years later daily disposables saw the light of day. With the new millennium came the first ever disposable toric contact lens, introduced by Vistakon.
Compared to two-weekly and monthly disposables, daily contact lenses have the advantage of low maintenance – they require no solution or lens cases, and hence they also save time. While extended wear disposables are generally cheaper, they have the additional cost of accessories. On the other hand, they are known to be very durable and therefore unlikely to break.
“Disposables were invented for a reason,” one optometrist says. “Since the advent of disposable lenses, I have seen far fewer contact lens related problems, especially those related to dirty lenses with deposits.” Comparing a soft lens to a sponge, one could say that the lens will soak up soil from your tears, cleanable for some time but not forever. The fact that new lens technology most commonly appears in the shape of disposable contact lenses could be seen as a sign that the industry no longer believes in non-disposables.
People with extraordinarily good quality tears can be successful with non-disposables and often appreciate not having to worry about buying new lenses, but a recent study has shown that non-disposables tend to pick up bacteria despite being soaked in solution, mainly due to the fact that wearers aren’t thorough enough with the cleaning of their lens cases. “The findings strengthen the case for using disposable contact lenses that come ready sterilised and never need to be cleaned,” says the study’s lead author, Antonia Pinna.
According to the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians’ general secretary, Bob Hughes, almost all their members sell disposable contact lenses exclusively. “For all sorts of reasons and ease of cleaning, disposable lenses make sense to a lot of people,” he adds.
In addition to safety and convenience, many wearers vouch for the exceptional comfort of daily disposable contact lenses, thanks to the fact that they’re much thinner than other lenses and allow for more oxygen to pass through to the cornea.