The cost of contact lenses depends on many factors, including your contact lens prescription, the type of contact lenses you choose, and where you purchase them.
Other factors that can affect your contact lens costs include manufacturer rebates, discounts for buying a year’s supply at a time, and how often you replace your lenses.
Reading: How much does contacts cost with insurance
“rough estimates” of contact lens costs
Because many factors affect the cost of contact lenses and prices change frequently, it’s difficult to accurately describe lens costs.
Daily disposable contact lenses. Daily disposable contact lenses are designed to be thrown away after just one use. but generally speaking, if you’re nearsighted and prescribed a popular brand of disposable soft contact lenses, these lenses are usually sold by a well-known optician chain at a retail price of as little as £7.50 for 30 lenses, that is, just £15.00 per month. some premium brand lenses will cost £30.00 to £40.00 per month. Of course, you’ll also need to budget for regular checkups.
A number of factors can change this estimate, including:
astigmatism. Contact lenses that correct astigmatism cost more than soft contact lenses that only correct nearsightedness or farsightedness. daily soft contact lenses for astigmatism, called toric contact lenses, often retail from £32.00 per month. Monthly torics start at about £15.00 per month, but you need to budget for cleaning solutions with these lenses. more sophisticated and higher performing materials will cost more.
See also: What Is a Health Insurance Premium?
colored contact lenses. soft contact lenses tinted to enhance or change eye color are more expensive than clear lenses or lenses with a slight handling tint (which helps you see the lenses in their case or helps you find the lens if you drop it). expect to pay 70 to 80 percent more for colored contacts than for non-colored lenses.
presbyopia. If you are over 40 and need bifocals, there are several contact lens options to correct presbyopia. If your optician recommends and prescribes disposable bifocal contact lenses, the estimated monthly cost of these lenses is £32.00 (similar to the cost of disposable toric contact lenses). so again, an annual lens cost of almost £400.00 is not unusual if you wear the lenses every day. monthly replacement multifocals will start at around £22.00 per month. again, more high performance premium lenses will cost more.
Gas permeable contact lenses. Rigid gas permeable contact lenses are custom made for each patient. Because they are not mass-produced like soft contact lenses, gas permeable lenses are more expensive than soft lenses. Although the cost per lens for gas permeable lenses (also called RGP or GP contacts) is higher, a single pair of GP lenses can last an entire year. therefore, the annual cost of wearing gas permeable lenses is often very comparable to the cost of soft lenses. ask your optician for a cost comparison for your specific vision needs.
custom contact lenses. custom contact lenses are available in soft and gas permeable lens materials. Commonly prescribed custom GP lenses are gas permeable contact lenses designed to correct very specific vision problems caused by keratoconus and other hard-to-fit eyes. custom contact lenses are significantly more expensive than conventional gp or soft lenses.
cost of contact lens solutions
Don’t forget the cost of contact lens solutions to clean and disinfect your lenses. if you wear contact lenses daily and clean and disinfect them after each use, this can be significant.
One way to avoid the cost and hassle of lens cleaning is daily disposable contact lenses. Since you dispose of these lenses after each use, there is often no need for contact lens solutions.
See also: How much is motorcycle insurance in new york city
However, it’s a good idea to keep a bottle of contact lens solution on hand if you wear daily disposable contact lenses, in case you need to rinse or re-wet your lenses during the day. this is especially true if you live or work in a dry and dusty environment.
find an optician: an optician can test your vision, find an optician near you.
liz segre & richard edwards also contributed to this article.
specsavers website prices correct as of Jan 17, 2022.
page published on Wednesday, March 16, 2022
page updated on Thursday, March 17, 2022
See also: What dermatology services are covered by insurance? Use 2021 Benefits