I wear Acuvue Oasys soft lenses. In theory, you are supposed to throw them away every two weeks (or twice a month). But I rarely think of it before three weeks have passed, and sometimes four! I never clean them; that seems to shorten their lives. Am I in for a world of hurt? Or is stretching them to three, four, or more weeks standard operating procedure? It certainly saves some money.
Just curious what experiences the rest of you have had. Thanks!
I wear the same brand, and I change them once a month. Those things are expensive! I clean them with ClearCare every night, which is the best cleanser out there (no rubbing involved).
If you wear them longer than intended and never clean them, well…that’s asking for trouble, IMO.
*Not Professional Medical Advice!
I’ve cleaned and disinfected my daily disposables and gotten 7-8 days of wear out of a pair. My theory is that they are composed of the same exact material as the two week ones, same H20 and O2 content, so the only issue IMHO is the packaging.
I have one month contact lenses. I don’t clean them, other than put them in one of those fancy solutions at night. I try to change them once a month, but in reality, I change them when they get crunchy. That works out to maybe every couple months. So far, I’m not blind, nor do I get infections, but my doc does yell at me occasionally.
I don’t do it because I want to, I simply just forget, much like I also forget the vitamin-D pills I’m supposed to take once a month. It seems that I’m just not good at once-a-month things.
By “never clean them,” do you mean you don’t use any sort of solution? Because I don’t see how that’s possible - they’d get incredibly dried out.
I’m a goody-two-shoes and try to throw them out after two weeks, though sometimes I might go for close to three. I have a bit of a phobia about going blind, and even though I know that’s a very slight possibility, my attitude is you can’t be too cautious when dealing with your eyes.
I wear monthlies and tend to change them every two months. I use opti-free replenish and give them a quick rub every night before putting them in the case. I have, on occasion, worn them for 3 months at a time if I’m waiting for my prescription benefit to kick in.
Sorry; I meant that I never rub them with cleaning solution. I do soak them in Clear Care every blessed night. That’s expensive enough.
As long as you see an optician at the first signs of any trouble (seriously, you should) then keeping them in that hydrogen peroxide solution (not just saline) should easily be sufficient. I wore lenses from 12 to 38 and only had problems once, I had to apply an antibiotic gloop to my eye for a week which was not nice but the optician said I was at risk of going blind otherwise, so it was small beer.
Eventually my eyes said ‘Nah, no more, enough’ so I had laser surgery. 20/10 now in both eyes 
I use one pair of two-week disposables for several months, but I don’t wear them daily (usually once or twice a week, sometimes more depending on what I’m up to).
During stretches where I DO go to daily wear, I use Clear Care nightly and generally get 3-4 weeks.
Back when I was an optician we had a regular patient who bought something like a dozen six packs of two week disposables every month and only wore them once. She could afford it and preferred the feel of new lenses every day.
And JustinC, you don’t see an optician if you’re having trouble. You see an optometrist or ophthalmologist. But yes, contacts can really do a number on someone’s eyes.
Long time contact lens wearer (first pair in 1980!) Always wore soft, started with daily wear, then extended wear, finally two-week disposables. The most important factor in length of wearing is not sleeping in them! As long as you take them out each night just use common sense in how long you feel they last. And as far as using cleaning solution on them, it’s been my experience that the less you touch soft contacts the better. Always soak them in multipurpose solution each night.
Just chiming in to say you guys are all crazy. I’ve been wearing contacts since I was 10, and I’ve had it hammared in to me that not maintaining them is just asking for trouble. Not cleaning them??? Really???
But then, I was rigid gas-permables, which let you know pretty quickly when it’s about time to take them out.
The difference between soft and rigid lenses is night & day. As long as you never sleep in them and disinfect them each night, rubbing soft lenses with cleaning solution isn’t necessary. And it’s like cleaning eyeglasses with Windex, it’s simply too harsh and will wear them out prematurely (and make them feel uncomfortable in the process).
However, there is another big issue with hanging on to soft lenses too long: **Protein deposits. **It was discovered in the 80s that this was a serious issue with soft lenses. Consequently you then had to soak them in little vials in a solution made with tiny Alka-Seltzer-like tablets once a week because nothing else would remove them (huge pain in the ass!). This was the real impetus to switching everyone to disposables. You simply threw them away long before protein deposits ever had a chance to become an issue. And the thing is, because they are initially caused by proteins in human tears, once soft lenses are worn once protein deposits can & will form on the lenses even if they just sit in the case for too long (whether they’re being worn or not). And these deposits can cause serious medical risks.
Therefore, once you open & wear a pair of disposables I would most definitely throw them away after no more than a month at most, regardless of wearing time.
I’ve been wearing contacts for a little over two years now. After using dailies for a while, my eye doctor said I should move up to the two-week variety. Odd that he didn’t know, but my prescription’s not available in Thailand in the two-week variety. I could find only the monthlies. That was a disaster. I tried to clean them well, but still I managed to give myself an eye infection. Also kept tearing them before the month was up. Never again. Dailies only for me.
The whole point of ClearCare is that it removes the protein deposits by soaking your lenses in Hydrogen Peroxide for a few hours instead of just saline. I don’t know if that’s the reason of not but I’m yet another person who, when switched over to ClearCare, immediately said ‘wow, it’s like wearing brand new contacts every single day’.
No offense Octarine but that’s my user name almost everywhere only EXCEPT here and it drives me crazy, “wait I don’t remember writing that…” Is a daily occurrence now.
Back on topic- I wear AirOptix 2week lenses for 5-6 weeks with clear care every night. I’ve been doing so for seven years now with no ill effects. It depends on your eye chemistry and how much protein your tears produce.
Back when I wore contacts, they were weekly, and I wore them for two weeks. I assume I would go a month with the others.
I found them more trouble than they were worth, though, as my eyes are narrow and I never got the hang of putting them in. Have they by any chance come with any the size of glass contacts?
Thanks for the clarification (pun thought of, discarded, then included because WTH).