Frequently Asked Questions

Simply put, a contact lens (or 'contact') is a very thin lens that floats on the tear fluid in your eye just above the cornea. Contact lenses are made for different purposes, but most often are used either to correct a problem with the wearer's vision, or to change the wearer's eye colour and appearance for special occasions.

Almost anyone can. Recent advances mean that even people suffering from astigmatism or presbyopia can still wear specially-made lenses. They can be worn to correct far- and near-sightedness, and can even be worn by people with perfect eyesight just to change their eye colour.

Estimates suggest that there are 125 million contact lens wearers worldwide - that's about 2% of the world's population - with between 28-38 million wearers in the USA alone!

Ultimately the choice is a personal one, and some people do prefer glasses to contact lenses (especially if they don't need to wear glasses constantly) but contacts do have several advantages.

Firstly, although they used to be a very expensive luxury, contact lenses are now incredibly cheap thanks to new manufacturing techniques and materials, and so losing or damaging a lens isn't anywhere near as big a deal as if you were to sit on your glasses!

Contact lenses are also very light and generally invisible (although you can get slightly tinted lenses to make them easier to see when they're not in your eyes) so it's very easy just to forget about them and go through the day without needing to worry about keeping them clean. Plus, you can even keep them in for all kinds of sports, especially water sports such as sailing and snorkeling.

People generally prefer contacts due to their appearance and practicality, as they are less affected by wet weather, do not steam up, are suitable for many sports, can accurately correct certain conditions that cannot be corrected with glasses (such as keratoconus and aniseikonia), and - often the most important factor - they offer a wider and complete field of vision that covers not just the centre of your sight but your peripheral vision as well.

There really is no youngest age for wearing contact lenses, as they have been successfully worn by premature infants with vision problems. The more important question would be how responsible and careful the wearer would be, but with proper care and maintenance there is no reason why children cannot wear contact lenses. Parents are recommended to speak to your child's optician for more information.

This depends on your eyes and the lenses you usually wear. In general, most contact lenses should not be worn while sleeping as this is valuable time that your eye takes to rehydrate itself and relax, however special 'continuous wear' lenses (such as Air Optix Night & Day) have been developed that help your eye to breathe during the day, meaning that you can leave them in while you sleep.

Coloured contact lenses offer the fun option of tinting (enhancing) or completely changing the colour of your eyes - you can even have both eyes different colours if you wish! The lenses are made with a transparent area in the centre so that, although your iris colour will change, you won't notice any different whatsoever while wearing them.

Enhancing tints come in various colours that add to your original eye colour, meaning that the final colour is different for each wearer. Opaque tints, however, block out your natural eye colour altogether so that the final colour is the same as the colour of the lens itself. Coloured lenses are available in a wide range of different shades, and also some whacky designs and patterns to give a very special effect - perfect for Hallowe'en or a big party.

Every person is different with varying needs according to their prescription, therefore it is highly recommended that you consult an optician before choosing any contact lenses.

If you don't wear contacts continuously then you'd probably be best looking at daily disposable lenses. This way you can throw them out whenever you're done and won't need to faff around with cleaning solutions and cases.

People who suffer from dry eyes are more likely to have problems as contacts do block oxygen from reaching your eye to keep it hydrated. Although this does not mean that you cannot wear contact lenses, but you may need to use eye drops or to remove your lenses more often. However recent advances have produced lenses that allow a far greater amount of oxygen to permeate the lens and keep your eye fresh during the day. These are often labelled as 'aqua' lenses, or 'continuous wear', and Biocompatibles' Proclear lenses have been designed for dry eye sufferers.

One of the biggest advantages of contact lenses is that they can be worn for almost any occasion, including while playing sports. However, they are not perfect and so you should be aware of the risks of the lens falling out in extreme circumstances.

This is only a good idea if you have a good pair of swimming goggles. The last thing you want, after all, is for the lens to float away! Or for it to absorb the chlorine!

Although the short answer is 'yes', this is very rare. Contacts are only likely to fall out if your eye becomes very dry and they can no longer float on the tear fluid, such as in high winds or where the humidity is very low (such as in an aeroplane). Rubbing your eye carelessly may also cause the lens to fall out, but as long as you're careful then you're very unlikely to have this happen.

No. Your eyelids are lined with a membrane called the conjunctiva that will stop your contact lenses from sliding too far backwards. Your lens can slide underneath your eyelid, though, but this is usually solved by looking in the direction of the lens - it should automatically centre itself on your cornea.

If your lenses start to feel uncomfortable, or your vision starts to get a bit blurry, then this is a good sign that the lenses are reaching the end of their use. Replacing them as soon as possible should solve any problems. If the problems do persist then you should remove your contact lenses and consult an optician.

Although you may find you can comfortably continue to wear lenses beyond the recommended wearing period, this is discouraged. Contacts are designed to be replaced at specified times to prevent the build up of bacteria, proteins, and lipids (as well as other debris such as pollen) that can irritate your eye and cause infections. Wearing lenses beyond the recommended period increases the health risk even if you don't feel any immediate problems.

According to the Opticians Act of 1989 (amended in 2005) contact lens suppliers may only supply you with lenses that have been prescribed and fitted by an optician, and therefore may require a signed prescription before they can fulfil your order.

If you do not have a copy of your prescription then you may be required to provide details of your optician when at the checkout so that the supplier can contact your optician when checking your order. Even if you believe yourself to have perfect sight, we strongly recommend you consult an optician regardless to be absolutely certain that you do not order incorrect lenses.

No, contact lenses require a different prescription from glasses. This is because the distance between the lens in your glasses and your cornea is far greater than that from a contact lens and so a different focusing power is required.

More or less. Although there are some very advanced conditions that cannot be solved using contacts, technological advances mean that common problems such as astigmatism and presbyopia can be corrected with special lenses.

With the odd exception of a large high-street chain, opticians rarely keep large quantities of lenses in stock, so they have to order them individually and usually at quite a high price. All the suppliers listed on our site have warehouses full of lenses which they have bought in bulk direct from the manufacturer, so they can offer far lower prices for exactly the same lenses.

In general contact lenses are in fact very cheap to produce, and a lot of the cost is actually spent in the packaging and postage, which is why big internet suppliers can buy in bulk and sell them on at comparitively low prices.

Although it differs from lens to lens, contact lenses only require a few minutes a day to take good care of them. Make sure you store your contacts properly in special saline solution and that you wash your hands thoroughly before handling your lenses. Daily lenses, of course, are even easier to take care of as they require no storage whatsoever.

Most people buy their contacts in an even number of packs - that way they can have separate packs for each eye and never get the prescriptions mixed up. Lens cases also come either with 'L' and 'R' marked on the two chambers so that you always know which lens is for your left or right eye, or they may have a heart marked on one chamber (this is so that they make sense internationally, as your heart is always on your left).

Many first-time wearers are concerned that putting a foreign object in their eye will cause a lot of discomfort and pain. Relax, everyone worries about this! In truth, when you put a new lens in your eye you will be very aware of it until it settles down, but once it's been in your eye for a while and you stop thinking about it you really will forget it's there.

One of the biggest problems people worry about is the natural instinct to blink when you try to put your lens in or remove it. This just takes practice to overcome and your optician can help you get past this barrier.

No, absolutely not. Contacts must be stored in special disinfecting fluid that can be bought online, from a high street store, or from your optician. After your lenses have been cleaned or stored in the solution you should throw it out and use new solution for the next time.

Tap water contains additives that can damage your lenses and it does not hydrate them properly, meaning that when you put them back in your eyes you will probably find them very uncomfortable and you risk the chance of an infection.

Soft contact lenses are designed to be worn one way and can be accidentally turned inside-out. If you think your lens may be the wrong way out then place it upside-down on the top of your finger and look at it closely. If the edges curve outwards then it is inside-out.

No, this would be a very bad idea. Even if it still feels fine you can't tell what damage it may be doing to your eye, or what the health risks may be. If a lens is damaged in any way, or just feels very uncomfortable, you should replace it.

For the ultimate convenience and health, daily disposable lenses are worn for a single day and then thrown away. They are very affordable and offer the advantages that you don't have to remember at the start of the month to replace your old lenses, and are also the healthiest option as any debris (such as pollen) is thrown away with the lens and a brand new sterilised lens keeps your eye clean and comfortable. However there are not usually as many options available (e.g. colours, or lenses for specific conditions such as astigmatism).

Available in a wider range of applications (such as coloured lenses and aspheric lenses that can correct astigmatism), these lenses are worn for longer than daily lenses, replacing them anywhere from every week or fortnight up to every month, or perhaps even longer. Weekly and monthly lenses are generally of a higher quality than daily lenses and so are usually more expensive per lens, although over the course of a month can work out much cheaper.

One of the latest developments are 'continuous-wear' lenses, which are designed to let more oxygen reach your eye, literally letting your eye breathe through the lens. Your eye needs time to refresh itself when wearing lenses (which usually happens at night when you've taken your contacts out) but with continuous-wear lenses your eye is constantly refreshed even while wearing the lenses, meaning that you never need to take them out when going to bed, so you can literally sleep in them and just replace them once a month!

Very popular these days, coloured lenses are used by actors as well as just for parties to change the colour of your eye. You don't need a prescription to wear these, but do bear in mind that the final colour does sometimes depend on your actual eye colour (though not always).

Some normal disposable lenses have a slight blue tint to help the wearer find them when cleaning or putting them in their eye. However we do not list these contacts as coloured, as once they are in the eye the tint disappears.

Conventional lenses are custom-made to fit your specific prescription and only recommended if your needs simply cannot be met with normal disposable lenses. These are often non-disposable and usually a lot more expensive.

Disposable contact lenses are also known as 'soft' lenses as the water-absorbent plastic they are made of allows them to mould themselves to your eye, but the older 'hard' lenses are still available today for people with specific needs such as advanced astigmatism. These RGP lenses are made out of a much firmer plastic that allows oxygen to pass through to your eye and are very durable, lasting longer than soft lenses. However they are more expensive and take longer to get used to, so are not recommended unless suggested by your optician.

Contact Lens Project is a price comparison site ran independently of the contact lens suppliers and manufacturers. We search the internet and collect all the different brands of contact lenses that can be supplied to UK customers over the web and list them in an easy to use format, automatically highlighting the offers that give you the best value for money.

No, we do not stock any contact lenses. We link straight through to contact lens suppliers from whom you buy your lenses directly. We just list all the different prices and offers that are available so you can find the best value price at any given time.

Simple. We have the largest catalogue of contact lenses for UK customers on the web that we always keep up to date. Prices and offers change regularly from each supplier, so this is the best place you can come to for the most up to date information when you need new lenses.

As we are independent of the contact lens suppliers, we offer completely impartial advice so that you can easily find the price with the best value for money.

We have every offer available to UK customers on our website, so we can save you hours of trawling through dozens of websites trying to track down the best price.

Best of all, our site is completely free to use. We receive a small fixed commission for each sale we refer to a supplier, which means that we can run this site for you at no cost at all - and don't worry about bias, as all the prices are the same as those on the suppliers' sites, and our site automatically highlights the best value deals for you regardless of how much commission we get.

If you have a question that hasn't been covered on this page then please let us know and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.