Extended Wear Contacts

Extended wear contacts are available in soft and RGP lenses.

Contact lenses basically have two wear schedules: daily wear and extended wear (sometimes called continuous wear). Most contact lens use is daily wear, meaning they are removed each night before bed and inserted again in the morning.

Extended wear contacts are worn for up to seven days for most brands, although CIBA Vision’s Focus Night & Day (available only in soft lenses) can be worn for up to 30 days.

The main difference between extended wear contacts and daily wear lenses is the amount of oxygen that is able to permeate the lens to reach the cornea. "Continuous wear" lenses, which refers to extended wear lenses that can be worn for up to 30 days, provide more oxygen to the eye than most conventional extended wear lenses, which is essential to superior eye health.

Advantages
Extended wear contacts offer many advantages:

The inconvenience of daily lens care is removed, and if you choose disposable extended wear contacts (extended wear contacts are available in conventional and disposable format), you’ll never have to clean your lenses again.

If you have a very strong prescription, extended wear lenses provide superior vision around the clock - you can wake in the middle of the night and see as clearly as you did during the day.

For people who work irregular hours, like firefighters, doctors, nurses and other shift workers, daily lens care can be difficult, so the ability to keep their lenses in their eyes is very beneficial.

Continuous wear contacts are the best alternative to laser vision correction for those who are not good candidates for LASIK, those who cannot afford it, or those who do not want the risk of a surgical procedure.

Extended Wear vs. Daily Wear
Given that extended wear contacts are worn in the eye up to seven days, and continuous wear lenses are worn up to 30 days, they put more stress on the eye than daily wear contacts. For the most part, serious eye infections are a fairly rare occurrence for wearers of daily wear contacts. But wearing contacts overnight automatically increases the risk of developing infections and other eye problems. Accordingly, because of the higher risk involved, more frequent visits to an eye care professional are needed for follow-up care. Consequently, extended and continuous wear contacts can be more costly than daily wear contacts.

Safer Extended Wear
To minimize your risk of developing an infection, follow your practitioner's instructions for replacement and care. Also, if you have to remove and re-use a lens you've already worn, make sure to clean and disinfect the lens before reinsertion.

Another alternative is "flexible wear" - removing your lenses most nights and sleeping with them in your eyes occasionally.

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See our full list of extended wear contact lenses:
1-2 Week Disposables >>
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