There is often confusion in understanding the meaning of the replacement schedule and the replacement contact lens wear schedule.
The replacement schedule refers to the period in which you replace the old pair with a new pair of contact lenses, regardless of whether you have worn them only once or more than once. The replacement schedule depends on the type of contact lenses, i.e. whether the contact lenses are one-day, two-week, monthly, three-month or annual.
The contact lens wear schedule refers to the manner and time period of wearing the contact lenses before removing them from the eyes.
The way of wearing can be:
-daily wear – take the contact lenses out of your eyes every day
-flexible (flexible wear) – for occasional wear
– extended wear – wear contact lenses continuously, up to 6 days without removing them from the eye, depends on the recommendation and the type of contact lenses
– continuous wear – wear contact lenses continuously, up to 30 days without removing them from the eye, depends on the recommendation and the type of contact lenses
Why is it necessary to stick to the manufacturer’s recommendations on the contact lens replacement schedule?
The more often you change your contact lenses, the healthier your eyes will be. Manufacturers recommend a replacement schedule for contact lenses based on how long they can be worn before protein, calcium, or lipid deposits build up on them.
Despite cleaning the contact lenses, if they are not daily contact lenses, there will be deposits that cannot be removed and are deposited on the contact lenses. These deposits make contact lenses uncomfortable in the eye. A new pair of contact lenses is always more comfortable on the eye than an old pair. It is important to note that your eyes are more susceptible to infections when wearing contact lenses that have expired!
For the above reasons, one should follow the manufacturer’s recommendation and not wear contact lenses longer than the manufacturer’s recommended replacement schedule.
Autor:
bc. Livio Svržnjak, optometrist
