One Day (Single Use) Contact Lenses

My name is Dr. Steven Lutz. I am an optometrist in Ann Arbor, MI along with Dr. Lesley Beebe. My office is located inside the Lenscrafters at the Briarwood Mall.

I have a very large contact lens practice. During routine eye exams, I fit many patients with complex prescriptions, including patients that have astigmatism or presbyopia (the need for help with their reading, mostly in patients over the age of 40).

Of course, we also do contact lens fittings for many patients that have straightforward prescriptions for myopia (near-sightedness) and hyperopia (far-sightedness). Many more of these patients are being fit with one day contact lenses, as opposed to the traditional two week or monthly contact lens. These lenses are worn once and then thrown away - no cleaning, no storage, fresh lenses every day!

There are many advantages to these one day contact lenses:

1: No contact lens solution hassle or cost. This is a supremely easy way to wear contact lenses. Solution will cost a patient about $75 / year. This cost is eliminated with one day contacts.

2: Brand new lenses are very comfortable. As a contact lens ages, often the comfort and wettability goes downhill. Discuss the comfort of your current lenses with your doctor during your eye exam. A one day contact lens patient has new lens comfort every day.

3: Time-released artificial tears & advanced polymers. Many one day lenses have time-released artificial tears built in that deal with dry eye problems very well. Other one day designs have technology that binds water tightly to the contact lens polymer, keeping the lens moist all day long.

It is true that most one day contact lenses may cost a bit more for your year supply than traditional disposable contact lenses. However, when you factor in the savings gained by eliminating contact lens solution and the hefty rebates available from the manufacturers (most are between $80 to $100!), as well as the health benefits of a new lens every day, the cost of one day contact lenses is usually only $3 to $5 more a month! You may find the health benefits of a daily disposable lens outweigh the extra $3-$5 per month.

When talking with your eye doctor about your eye care, be sure to discuss all the benefits of one day contact lenses to see if these lenses are the right fit for you!