What Are Disposable Contact Lenses?
Find out more about disposable contacts

It's important to understand the terminology of disposable contact lenses. Disposable lenses are to be replaced every two weeks, or sooner, while frequent replacement lenses should be replaced monthly or quarterly. Reusable lenses can be replaced every six months or longer. The term "disposable" usually encompasses both disposable and frequent replacement lenses.
Replacement Schedule vs. Wearing Schedule
Replacement and removal intervals are a common source of confusion for contact lens users. Replacement schedule refers to the frequency with which your lenses are discarded and replaced — that is, whether they are disposable, frequent replacement or reusable. The wearing schedule, on the other hand, signals how often you remove your contacts, and daily wear means you remove them each night. Extended wear means you sleep in them. Disposable contacts can be prescribed for either daily wear or extended wear, depending on your eye needs and individual physiology.
The Ultimate in Health and
Convenience: Daily Disposables
Contact lens care can be avoided in two ways. One way is to sleep in your lenses, replacing your lenses periodically. However, sleeping in lenses is not a good idea for everyone; not to mention that sleeping in contact lenses slightly increases your risk of eye infections.
Daily disposables are your other alternative. These lenses are also called one-day disposables and are contacts that you discard every night and replace in the morning with a new pair. This option offers the best of both worlds for many eye care professionals. The option is also more convenient because there is no lens cleaning at all. Because there is no day-to-day lens deposit buildup, and because there is no increased risk of eye problems due to sleeping in lenses, little health risk is involved.
The difference between reusable and disposable lenses
It was well known that frequent lens replacement was a healthy thing to do even before the advent of disposable lenses. However, the problem was, contacts were too expensive to discard very often and thus various cleaning solutions and devices were used to prolong the life of the lens.
Then, contact lens manufacturers developed new manufacturing methods to produce high-quality lenses at lower volume and lesser cost. Lower lens prices were thus achieved, making it affordable to replace lenses more frequently. Some of the disposable lenses on the market today are made of the same materials as traditional lenses, while other disposables are made from new materials that lend themselves well to disposability.
Weighing the costs of Disposable vs. Conventional Lenses
Depending on where you live, the eye care practitioner you choose, and how complicated your prescription is, the cost of being fitted with contact lenses varies widely. The difference of cost of choosing disposables over traditional lenses is slight, and is somewhat offset by the reduced need for cleaning products.