if you're looking into wearing contact lenses there's a big decision that you and your doctor
will make whether you're going to be into daily contact lenses a fresh contact every
day or a two-week or monthly contact lens and usually the top thing a patient considers is
the price which one's going to be more cost effective but there are many other aspects
to consider and that's what we're going to talk about right now let's focus in
dailies versus monthly contact lenses let's first talk about daily contact lenses the
pros and the cons probably the biggest benefit to wearing daily lenses is probably the most obvious
and that is the health benefit now when you're wearing a daily contact lens you're getting a
fresh contact lens every day so that means when you wear a contact lens you get a lot of protein
or lipid buildup onto the lenses or debris from wherever you're working or outside that build up
just gets chucked with that contact lens and you get a fresh one the next day and that's probably
the biggest benefit is that the daily contact lenses can definitely be more comfortable on a
day-to-day scale and that's another big Pro Comfort now usually daily contact lenses are
thinner than monthly lenses and so when you put it in your eye your eyelids don't feel the edges that
much you don't feel them moving around the eye as much and so overall Comfort is usually better with
thinner daily lenses which makes them an excellent starting type of contact lens if it's the first
time that you're wearing contact lenses a lot of times I'll fit new patients especially young
patients kids teenagers into daily lenses because they are easier to get used to the feeling of a
contact lens in the eye so it's easier to kind of jump into the contacts they're safer healthier for
the eye and so it's a really good starting lens and another Pro along those same lines with kids
and teenagers there are a lot less infections that we usually see with daily contact lenses now when
you're first starting out you're dealing with the contact lens you're learning how to put it
in take it out you're touching your eyelids a lot more and so there's a lot more contact from your
hands to your eyes more chance of an infection and with kids and teenagers who knows what's going on
and so usually daily lenses are safer less chance of an infection and with the daily contact lenses
there is less care that needs to be taken then monthly contact lenses there's still care you
still want to wash your hands and treat them right but you don't have to worry about cleaning
the lenses and storing them in a case like you do with monthly contact lenses so there's still less
chance and an infection there and this brings up the next Pro daily contact lenses are definitely
more convenient less care so you don't have to clean them every night and store them in a case
you don't have to deal with contact lens Solutions they're definitely more convenient especially if
you are an occasional contact lens wear you just wear them for sports or skiing you can just put
them in wear them for that day and then go right back to glasses so definitely a convenience factor
to consider with daily contacts one other Pro to daily lenses is usually people tend not to over
wear their daily contact lenses it's easy to remember hey I just take this out I Chuck it I
get a fresh contact every day another possible Pro is sometimes daily contacts can be better
for those that suffer from dry eyes dry eye syndrome but this can be a mixed bag I find
a lot of patients that actually do better with monthly contact lenses there are some monthly
lenses that can retain moisture a little bit better but definitely a lot of people do do better
with daily contact lenses so that is something to consider as far as when you're looking into
contact lenses now if you want to get into the studies and technicalities of daily lenses and
dry eyes Studies have shown that with daily lenses there is less ocular surface disruption so less
micro scratches and rubbing onto the surface of the contact lens and then less pro-inflammatory
cytokines and this all can lead to tier breakup time being reduced meaning that your tears are
evaporating more the tear film is a little bit less stable it also can lead to more of
an ocular surface disease or a dry eye disease and so there are studies that show that daily lenses
can be more beneficial to the ocular surface and more beneficial regarding dry eyes now the cons
of daily contact lenses there are definitely some cons here number one is the cost and this is where
a lot of patients do want to know about this is like the number one thing they want to know about
is hey what's going to be the extra cost of daily lenses and daily contact lenses typically are more
expensive than monthly contact lenses now there are a few things to consider here there are a few
contact lens daily Brands out there that really aren't that much more expensive in my mind they
are worth the extra cost for the added benefits that you get but also one thing to consider is
with monthly contact lenses you are buying contact lens Solutions and cases and so add that into the
cost but there are some daily lenses that are awesome that patients love and their Premium
Contact Lenses premium daily contact lenses that can be pricey and so that is definitely something
to consider another con that's associated with a pro is that they're really thin now that's a pro
but they're thin and flimsy which can be a con sometimes they're tricky or trickier to handle
especially when you're first learning how to put contacts in they can be more flimsy and fold on
your finger and you're trying to put it in your eye and your eyelash one eyelash will touch the
contact and fold the contact over so it doesn't get in your eye and so there's more of a learning
curve because they're more flimsy difficult to handle now there are some daily contact lenses
out there that are a little bit more firm they hold their shape a little bit better
and so those contacts are great especially for first time wearers because it takes out of the
equation the flimsiness of daily contacts but you still get the benefit of a thin contact
feeling in your eye we definitely should talk about prescription availability there is less
available prescriptions in daily contact lenses so if you are someone that has a higher prescription
maybe higher astigmatism or oblique astigmatism then your contact lens or your prescription might
not be available in a daily contact lens versus a monthly contact lens monthly lenses usually
have a lot more availability and variety now that Gap is closing though there are a lot more daily
lenses coming to the market a lot more astigmatism daily lenses coming out multifocal daily lenses
coming out and so that Gap is closing but still there is a lot more availability on the monthly
lens side now let's talk about monthly contact lenses and one of the pros like I said the cost
of monthly lenses can be better versus a daily contact lens there are a lot of different monthly
contact lens Brands out there a lots of different prescriptions and they've been out for a while and
usually the price of a monthly lens mainly due to a manufacturing process and limitations of the
daily lenses but monthly lenses can be more costly effective so a more affordable if you're getting
into contacts and like I said before do take into account the contact lens solution cost to take
care of your monthly contacts another Pro monthly contacts are easier to handle they hold their form
a little bit better so they're not as flimsy they won't fold as easy on your finger sometimes easier
to get in so definitely easier to handle and they're more durable because they're thicker
they're more durable less chance of of ripping or chipping or tearing the contact lens even though
that still happens now one other con that a lot of people don't think about is if you happen to rip
your monthly contact lens and that happens you'll rip it or your tet you'll tear it and get a chunk
out of it and so you just can't wear that contact because it's too irritating or it's in two pieces
and so you are just out that contact if you're on the second day of wearing a contact lens into your
month and then you have to Chuck it then you're pretty much out a month of a contact lens and so
that can cost a little bit more each monthly lens costs more than one daily lens so if you
happen to rip a daily lens then you're only out that one day and so that's something to consider
if you are someone that tends to rip or you're aggressive with the contacts and for some reason
your eye likes to just tear up contact lenses uh yeah you might burn through monthly contacts a
lot faster and might not work out to your benefit whereas dailies you're out a day or two days and
you just go on to the next contact now another Pro and I just said this Pro for daily lenses
is sometimes they can work better for dry eyes sometimes they're designed to hold moisture a
little bit better in that thicker contact lens and so it doesn't dry out as much and so it definitely
depends on the person the patient and the contact lens brand and the type of dry eyes they have and
so there's some variability there but that is or could be a pro to a monthly lens and a con for
monthly lenses is people tend to over wear their monthly contact lenses more than daily lenses they
tend to wear them past the two week or the monthly Mark they tend to sleep in their monthly contacts
more than they do a daily lens and so there is more of a hygiene factor and compliance to daily
lenses versus monthly monthly lenses there's a lot more temptation to over wear those contacts
a con is there's definitely more care that needs to be taken with the monthly lens you need to make
sure that you're cleaning them properly with the proper solution you're storing them properly in
the case and I have videos about that I'll put the link in the description on how to clean them
and what solution is the best as well a con is that They are thicker and so usually you will
fill them a little bit more in the eye now usually people get used to that feeling but when you're
starting out that thicker contact lens could feel a little bit more you'll feel the edges a little
bit more of that thicker contact lens and so it can be a little bit more irritating and annoying
and probably the biggest con is because you're wearing the same contact lens from day to day
for a month or two weeks that any debris that you get on there that you can't properly clean off it
gets carried over into the next day so meaning you are putting that same dirty contact with proteins
debris lipids back into your eye and your eye has to deal with everything that's on the surface of
that contact lens and so your eyelids are rubbing over it your tear film is having to work with it
as well and on top of that it's depositing more debris more proteins and lipids on it that gets
carried over into the next day and so that's the the biggest thing biggest con to monthly
lenses after that two-week period or that month period people feel it people say I can feel I
can definitely tell that this contact is ready to be tossed or changed out because it just carries
over the debris from the previous day and the con along those same lines is that you can definitely
develop more infections you're more at risk of developing an infection with monthly lenses
because you have that debris and build up on the lens there's more contact involved especially when
you're first learning out then you're at more risk to getting infections a conjunctivitis or
ulcers on the cornea usually with corneal ulcers which can be pretty painful an infection
especially bacterial ulcers can be kind of scary I usually see those with monthly lenses and usually
people that over wear their monthly lenses I usually rarely see them with daily contact lenses
so as you can see there are a lot of different things to consider when you're talking about
dailies versus monthly or two-week contact lenses now I usually recommend daily contact lenses to
my patients especially if it's their first time it's easier to get used to Pros usually outweigh
the cons there's more Pros to daily lenses than monthly lenses but I don't shy away from monthly
lenses either there are a lot of patients that love monthly contacts that actually do better
in monthly contacts and so both are great options each have their pros and cons and it depends on
the patient and their specific needs and so it's definitely something to talk about with
your doctor and not just consider the cost of the contact lenses if you are new to contact lenses
check out this playlist I have how to put them in take them out clean them best Solutions and other
videos about contact lenses I have it all right here I'm Dr Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy, stay focused.