Disposable contact lenses

October 20, 2020 6:47 PM

I know the answer is "don't do this." But REALLY, can I do this?

So there are contacts that you can use for a month, and some you can use for a day. My instincts tell me that one absolutely could use a daily lens for two or three days. And I'm sure an eye doctor would tell me "Don't do that." But really. Can I do that? I'm talking about daytime use--I understand there are some contacts you can wear to bed, but I don't plan to look into that.

posted by Sterros to Health & Fitness (36 answers total)

I used 'em for weeks at a time, taking them out every evening around sunset.
posted by Rash at 6:58 PM on October 20, 2020

If you do this, use the fizzy kind of contact lens solution.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:58 PM on October 20, 2020 [11 favorites]

Been doing this for a long time. As showbiz_liz says, use the peroxide cleaner to sterilize and get rid of protein buildup.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:01 PM on October 20, 2020 [2 favorites]

I did this for years and my optometrist started yelling at me and ranting stuff about FDA regulations and eye infections so dangerous I could go blind.

I never went blind. But there’s a ranty doctor in Brooklyn who would aggressively urge you not to do this.
posted by mochapickle at 7:12 PM on October 20, 2020 [13 favorites]

I do this for two to three days, cleaning them thoroughly with a cleaner solution every night and storing them in a case, same as non-daily contacts. There’s a paper that’s brought up sometimes that is used to show you shouldn’t do it, but that involved people taking their contacts out and putting them back in the original contact lens pack with the original solution. So don’t do that, not that you would.
posted by umwhat at 7:15 PM on October 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

I did this (with a contact case and regular saline) and I now have permanent problems with my eyes because of eye infections. I can no longer wear contacts comfortably for more than an hour or two, especially in my left eye, which was more damaged than my right. You can do whatever you want with your body, but there's good reason to not wear these kind of contacts for more than a day. You only have two eyes and they're pretty precious.
posted by k8lin at 7:19 PM on October 20, 2020 [32 favorites]

I switched from non-disposable contacts to weekly wear (I think) several years ago, and I switched to daily wear about 2-3 years ago. It only occurred to me a few months ago that I could wear these contacts for more than a day. So for the past few months, I've been wearing them two days, storing them overnight in a case with cleaner (not just saline). I haven't pushed it past that (twice as long seems plenty long).

I have no idea if this is a good or bad idea, but ... now you know there's at least one person doing it.
posted by bluedaisy at 7:37 PM on October 20, 2020

When I had two-week lenses (many years ago; I just wear glasses now) I found they'd start to irritate my eyes a little before I got to a full two weeks, despite cleaning. I'm not sure exactly what lead to that but there did seem to be something concrete about the intended wear time, even if not everyone is sensitive to it.
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:11 PM on October 20, 2020

Can you physically do it, definitely, they don't disintegrate after 24 hours or anything. Is it a good idea? I'm not sure why you'd trust random online strangers with your eye health over an eye doctor, but since you're asking, I would not do it. My doctor told me in no uncertain terms never to do it (I didn't ask) even knowing that I order contacts online so the number of contacts I bought didn't affect them financially or anything.

The risk of infection or permanent eye damage is a risk, not a guarantee, but the benefits seem pretty slim to be worth it. If you want to save money why not just wear cheap glasses some days?
posted by randomnity at 9:06 PM on October 20, 2020 [6 favorites]

I personally know two former contact wearers who, as adults, got some kind of eye ulcer and can't wear contacts any more. I can't say that it was specifically because they were not following the directions on the package of contacts but ulcers are a risk of doing that.
posted by muddgirl at 9:19 PM on October 20, 2020

Response by poster: I suppose I'll take this chance to ask where's good online for low-cost contacts and glasses. I don't trust them to tell me the truth on this topic, by the way, because all the optical people I've talked to around here are utterly rapacious buttholes who will do everything to take all the money.
posted by Sterros at 9:20 PM on October 20, 2020

My husband has been very happy with the glasses he gets from online websites like Zenni Optical, Warby Parker (which now has storefronts), or 39DollarGlasses. I get cheap-ish glasses from Walmart (usually less than $150).
posted by muddgirl at 9:24 PM on October 20, 2020

> because all the optical people I've talked to around here

A while back I stumbled into a webforum for and by opticians; they were bitching about trying to compete with Costco's opticians. So for brick-and-mortar, try Costco?
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:09 PM on October 20, 2020 [4 favorites]

If you are trying to save money, can you comfortably wear just one contact? I can. Maybe wear just the left for a week than just the right for a week (new each day off course). It'd be even healthier because your eye would get more oxygen.
posted by flimflam at 11:30 PM on October 20, 2020

If you have a complex prescription, like progressives with two different prescriptions for the reading part, Costco is the least expensive in my area. Zenni and 39 dollar glasses are good and cheaper than Costco if you have a more standard prescription, although progressives can be hit or miss.
posted by KayQuestions at 12:50 AM on October 21, 2020

Lens.com has served me well for much cheaper daily contact lenses than I can get from my eye guy. I max out my insurance with him and then buy everything else online.
posted by charmedimsure at 1:40 AM on October 21, 2020

I used 1-800-CONTACTS.com (the anachronism!) with zero problems. Buying two years' worth at a time saved a few dollars per box of the ones you throw away after two weeks.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:06 AM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

If cost is an issue, why not monthly lenses? (Which I wear for more than a month just because I completely forget to change them, which I now realise I should maybe make more of an effort not to do). I also have glasses, which I wear in the evenings after taking my lenses out.

(Having never used daily lenses, I'm assuming that longer-wear lenses end up being cheaper per-day, but I stand to be corrected.)
posted by confluency at 2:30 AM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I feel the advice is already converging around "but no", but I will add another voice to that. As someone who developed an eye ulcer a few years ago, I would strongly recommend you try and minimise your chances of having one. (Mine wasn't due to reusing contacts, but it was in that ballpark - on holiday, staying up late and wearing contacts for 18-20 hours a day, fell asleep with them in one night, wore them in a public swimming pool etc).

I'm in the UK so it only cost me multiple hospital trips plus time and pain to get it resolved, but if you're in the US, I would imagine there's a good chance that could easily wipe out your potential savings. Online bulk buying for the win.

(For UK people, I use lenstore.co.uk)
posted by Hartster at 4:32 AM on October 21, 2020

Seconding confluency -- why don't you get biweekly lenses instead? I've never been able to use dailies due to my prescription and I have never heard of these warnings about eye ulcers or infections (as long as you don't wear them overnight and use proper, sterile solution for storage and cleaning), nor have I had any issues in the 20 years I've worn contacts.

aclenses.com had the best prices for me. I like zennioptical.com for frames because they aren't owned by Luxottica.
posted by jessica fletcher did it at 6:20 AM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I haven't shopped around much to know if there's a better option here (Canada) but I've ordered both contacts and glasses at reasonable prices from Clearly. If you don't need all the fancy lens coatings or a complicated prescription, you can get basic glasses for a very low cost.

And yes, the contacts designed for longer wear have been tested to be safe for that amount of time, and are cheaper than dailies if you use contacts every day. I only wear mine when I go out and just use glasses at home so dailies end up being cheaper for me.
posted by randomnity at 6:35 AM on October 21, 2020

I have never heard of these warnings about eye ulcers or infections

I'm not going to tell OP "categorically do not do this" but I experienced a corneal ulcer 10 years ago after leaving my contacts in too long. (Like, WAY too long, more than OP is proposing.) It was intensely painful and they told me I could have lost the eye. That's when I switched from normal contact solution to the fizzy peroxide kind, because the doctors said it was much safer.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:02 AM on October 21, 2020

If you are trying to save money, can you comfortably wear just one contact? I can. Maybe wear just the left for a week than just the right for a week (new each day off course). It'd be even healthier because your eye would get more oxygen.

Many, if not most people wearing contacts need more than just a little bit of vision correction, and what you're suggesting would not only lead to eyestrain, headaches, and refractive amblyopia in the long run but would also lead to not really being able to see. I'm only moderately nearsighted and having only one contact in would get in the way of doing anything that requires me to see long distances. There are far more sensible ways to save money on contacts, this is just asking for making your life a PITA.
posted by blerghamot at 7:42 AM on October 21, 2020 [8 favorites]

Yeah that suggestion was so baffling I didn't even address it before but I cannot imagine "just wear one contact" would be anything but agonizing torture for anyone who actually needs their contacts to see.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:49 AM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

I buy monthly contact lenses that I wear for about 4-6 months, unless they tear or whatever. I had one eye infection in 20 years that was pretty minor that was directly caused by old contacts. I think I had worn that pair for close to 9 months. I had to rub this goo on my eye for a week and I was good.

I take mine out at night and they go for a swim in the cleaner stuff.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:14 AM on October 21, 2020

Thirding the “don’t wear just one contact” thing. I seem to have some slight but perceptible (and annoying) binocular vision issues that I believe were caused by a situation where I was only seeing accurately from one eye for a long time.
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:33 AM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

When I was younger I could wear the 2-week contacts for one month if I took them out each night and soaked them in peroxide solution. As I got a bit older, into my 30s, my eyes got drier and I found the lenses built up protein much faster; I was replacing the lenses every 2 weeks when they got too uncomfortable to wear longer. Eventually I switched to dailies and have found them much more comfortable. A lot of this will depend on your own physiology, but do note that the 2-week lenses are more "sturdy" and would probably be better for occasional but repeated use. They are also cheaper on a scheduled-wear basis.

Whenever I need to order a new supply I just search a few of the (legitimate seeming) online distributors for the best price. Most recently I have used Wal-Mart optical, and I've used discountcontactlenses.com in the past. Both were about half the cost of buying them from my eye doctor.
posted by Jemstar at 8:46 AM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Mileage may vary on the "wear one contact" thing. I did it for years, but I'm a snowflake with one nearsighted and one farsighted eye, and for a long time I didn't *need* the correction on the farsighted eye (and I had the blessing of my eyecare professional).

It feels like there are two separate issues being addressed here. Wearing contacts on multiple days *without cleaning them* is likely to turn out badly whether they are meant for one-day use or not. But, is there any reason to not wear a one-day contact for two or three days if it is cleaned in between? Like something inherently different about the lens itself that deteriorates after a day of use or in the cleaning process?
posted by Preserver at 10:06 AM on October 21, 2020

Decades ago, I wore the non-disposable type of lenses and cleaned them every night after taking them out and then did a weekly enzyme treatment to remove protein buildups. As long as you use proper cleaning practices, there's nothing inherently dangerous about cleaning and reusing lenses. Because they used to be so expensive, I'd keep lenses for a year or more. My eye doctor also said that he, in the strongest way possible, would not support me getting long-wear, overnight lenses (the type you wear and sleep in) because they're extremely dangerous when it comes to infections and that the resulting corneal ulcers would make it so I couldn't wear lenses again if I managed to preserve my sight after the infection. He graphically explained that it's like wearing plastic underwear for a weeks without bathing. Yikes.
posted by quince at 10:09 AM on October 21, 2020

Per my eye doctor, the reason they developed the monthly ones is that people were wearing the weekly ones for weeks at a time. I have been overstressing my weekly and now monthly contacts for years—I take them out and clean them at night, but otherwise I go way over time, especially now. I have, kayn ahora, had no problems except that the monthly ones rip easier than the non-disposable ones and the weekly ones rip easier than the monthly ones. I would not push it with daily contacts, as I assume they're concomitantly more fragile.
posted by babelfish at 10:16 AM on October 21, 2020

If this is a matter of cost, I think it's important to recognize:

- Cheaper contact lenses (both dailies and extended wear) are using cheaper materials, which allow less oxygen to your eye. Getting less oxygen to your eyes is a significant factor in having serious issues with your eyes. You can get dailies made from the most expensive materials and extended wear with the cheapest, and vice versa. So you can't assume that dailies or extended wear are cheaper.

- Contact lenses, in the USA, are treated like prescriptions and can't be changed without the eye doctor. You cannot go into a store and ask for the cheapest daily contact lenses. Your contact lens prescription will literally state the brand and model of contact lens you are permitted to buy. So don't start making decisions based on the prices of contact lenses you see online, because you won't really have a choice.

- I assume that an eye doctor knows about oxygen transmission and complications and will probably not prescribe really cheap contact lenses, unless you ask. And they can say no, and you won't really be able to do anything about it.
posted by meowzilla at 11:44 AM on October 21, 2020

I did this. Went in for a routine eyecheck. They said my cornea wasn't getting enough oxygen and blood vessels were growing, rerouting to supply more oxygen. I stopped wearing the contacts for more than spec'ed. I've only got 2 eyes, and I want them to last a long, long time.
posted by at at 3:32 PM on October 21, 2020

Another non-evidence-based tip: if I wear my daily wear contacts for two days, I wear them two days in a row. I don't let them sit multiple days after the first wear. And if my first day is particularly long, I might toss them at the end of the day. I also wear my glasses fairly regularly, in the mornings and evenings and sometimes most of the day.

I've had a hard time finding my fancy daily wear contacts for super cheap (the online contacts store was the same cost as my eye doctor). But there are affordable eye glasses online.
posted by bluedaisy at 3:39 PM on October 21, 2020

I use monthly contacts. But my insurance only discounts one years' worth every two years. So I wear each set for two months and I've never had a problem.

I use regular contact solution and soak them every night, although I've forgotten to take them out and slept with them in a few times.
posted by tacodave at 5:12 PM on October 21, 2020

Years ago for work, I had occasion to observe and interview eye surgeons removing cataracts and placing intraocular lenses. They believed that people who wore contacts for too long were their patients-to-be. I don't know if they were right, and that was many years ago, but they had no doubt.
posted by daisyace at 5:42 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've been wearing contact lenses since I was in my teens.

When I was in my 20s, I saved money by wearing my (non-disposable) lenses much longer than I was supposed to. I ended up with Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis. It was uncomfortable and debilitating and because I left it a long time before I got it seen to (again, saving money) it was months before I could use contacts again.

When I was in my 30s, I wore my disposable lenses longer than I was supposed to. I ended up with keratitis. It was painful and debilitating, and also took a long time to go away.

Now I am in my 50s. I still have 'cobblestones' from my GPC and scars on my corneas from my keratitis. And I say: do not fuck with your eyes unless you want your eyes to fuck with you.
posted by andraste at 10:37 PM on October 21, 2020 [3 favorites]