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Daily Wear Contacts

Daily wear contacts are those that are worn for one day - during waking hours and then taken out. They are then either cleaned and disinfected to wear again the next morning or thrown away if they are daily wear disposable contacts. At any rate - they are not slept in.

When people talk about daily wear contacts they are usually referring to soft contacts - but hard contacts, which aren't hardly worn anymore, were always daily wear. And also RGP - Rigid Gas Permeable - contacts may also be daily wear, although some are extended wear.

Way back when, when I first started wearing soft contacts they were daily wear only and definitely not disposable. They were meant to last for some period of time, usually at least a year. And I had some that lasted way more than a year. It seems then that many people tended to get new ones mostly because they either lost one or tore one. And for some people they would start getting too many protein deposits on the contacts, so they had to be replaced.

Daily wear soft contacts back then were more or less expected to keep indefinitely, unless something happened to one, or you had protein deposit problems. It doesn't seem as though they even sell those type anymore, based on some searches I did. (Of course it could also be that daily contacts that last a year or more are not currently sold by online stores very much - not enough volume to sell and most people would likely buy them from their eye doctors.) Most daily wear soft contacts (except the daily disposable type) seem to be more sold as frequent replacement lenses. Of course I guess it is a matter of opinion about how frequent, frequent is. I found some that were meant to be replaced every 6 to 18 months. Others every three months. And of course, the daily disposables - to be replaced each day.

Common Brands of Daily Wear Contacts

Cibasoft Visitint: These contacts are made by Ciba Vision Corp. They are 62.5% polymer (tefilcon) and 37.5 water. They are a daily wear contact meant to be replaced at every six to eight months. They are lightly colored to be easier to see. They come in powers of .25 to 6.00 and -.25 to -8.00, base curves of 8.30, 8.60, 8.90 and 9.2; diameters available are 13.8 and 14.5.

Cooper Clear DW: Made by Cooper Vision, Inc., these contacts are meant to be worn on a daily basis and replaced at around one year. They are 42.5% water and 57.5% polymer (polymacon). Powers are .25 to 6.00 and -.25 to -10.00; base curve: 8.30, 8.60, 8.70; diameter: 14.0 and 14.4.

Focus Monthly: Focus Monthly, as the name suggests, are meant to be replaced each month. You wear them during the day, take them out at night and clean, and put them back in in the morning. They are made of 45% polymer (vifilcon A) with a water content of 55%. They are made by CIBA Vision Corp. and are slightly tinted to be easier to see. Powers are .25 to 6.00 and -.25 to -15.00; base curves: 8.60, 8.90; diameter: 14.00.

1-Day Acuvue: These contact are one day wear contacts that are thrown away at the end of the day. They have UV-blocking are made of 42% polymer (etafilcon A), are 58% water and made by Johnson and Johnson. Powers are .5 to 6.00 and -.5 to -12.00; base curve: 8.5 and 9.0; diameter: 14.2.

Focus DAILIES: These one day wear contacts are made by CIBA Vision - again, you wear them one day then throw them away. They are made from 31% nelfilcon A and are 69% water. Powers are .5 to 6.00 and -.5 to -10.00.

Other articles in this series are: Contacts - An Introduction Part I: Eyes and Vision,
Contacts - An Introduction Part II: Contact Types and History,
Soft Contacts - Daily Wear and Disposable,
Rigid gas permeable (RGP) Contacts,
Extended Wear Contacts and
Orthokeratology.

Some related web sites are Focus DAILIES and 1-Day Acuvue Contacts.