Contact lenses simplified

Contact lenses are named in a variety of ways and this often causes confusion among wearers. The names vary according to frequency of usage, purpose, material or brand:

Contact Lenses by frequency of use

Contact lenses are often called daily contact lenses, weeklies, bi-weeklies, monthlies or extended wear (EW). The vast majority of users prefer daily lenses, since they minimize the amount of fuss around cleaning routines – you simply throw them away at the end of the day. It is however more expensive. Furthermore, it is not however possible for all users to get their prescriptions in daily format. Others prefer the extended format – in an ideal world you would put in your lenses and leave them in, taking them out only at the end of the month.

Contact Lenses by purpose

There are basically three types of lens, spherical lenses,toric lenses and multifocal / varifocal lenses. Most users with short or far sightedness will use spherical lenses. People with astigmatism will wear toric lenses. Actually, there is quite a cross-over here. You may find you have been on the borderline and could quite comfortably switch for a trial period. Finally, for people who are starting to experience with presbyopia, varifocal contact lenses do away with the need for an additional pair of reading glasses.

Contact Lenses by materials

• Originally contact lenses were made of glass. These were replaced by PMMA (Plexiglas / Perspex) but due to the limited permeability of oxygen they are very hard to find nowadays. They were in turn replaced by RGP (rigid gas permeable) contact lenses. Generically, both PMMA and RGP are referred to as “hard” lenses. Typically they have long (>1 year) replacement schedules. Many people have been wearing these for years when actually soft lenses may be more appropriate with the new widely available technologies.
• Further development resulted in “soft” lenses. They are in the first place a great breakthrough in immediate comfort. RGP lenses tend to take some getting used to but soft lenses are great from the moment you first put them in. The other comfort advance has come with increased gas permeability. The arrival of silicone hydrogels brings us right up to date, resulting in optimal oxygen permeability and (by various technologies) high moisture levels.


The most common silicone hydrogel brands are Cibavision Air Optix and Night & Day, J&J's Acuvue Advance and Oasys and B&L's PureVision.



Contact Lenses by brand




Most people only understand their lens type in terms of their own brand (although interestingly brand awareness is not that strong amongst contact lens wearers). They therefore see themselves as Johnson & Johnson (Acuvue), Bausch & Lomb, Cibavision or Coopervision users. Each brand tends to use trademarked technologies which can obscure the basic type of lens. Additionally, many optician chains have created their own labels (all of which can be replaced with manufacturers’ products using our equivalency tables) such as Boots Dailies.




Own Brand Contact Lenses



• Boots Contact Lenses
• Specsavers / easyvision Contact Lenses
• D&A Contact Lenses
• Vision Express Contact Lenses.


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