Average Cost for Contacts

Contact lenses are a significant financial investment, however the benefits of contact lens wear likewise are significant. When asking “Are contacts costly?” what many people actually imply is, “Are contacts worth the cost?” Read on, and choose for yourself.

What Is the Average Cost of Contacts

Contacts provide lots of advantages over using glasses, particularly for sports and outside activities. A few of these advantages consist of better field-of-view, increased peripheral awareness, no lens fogging, no worry of them falling off and the ability to wear sport sunglasses and sport-specific headgear.

The majority of contact lens users today are nearsighted and pick disposable soft contact lenses.

If you use non reusable contacts daily and dispose of and change them every two weeks — the most common lens replacement schedule suggested by optometrist — you can expect to pay approximately $220 to $260 for a year’s supply of lenses and another $150 to $200 on contact lens options, for an overall annual cost of roughly $370 to $460 to use contact lenses.

Is that pricey? Maybe the best method to judge is to compare this annual cost with the cost of prescription spectacles and vision correction surgery.

Cost Of Contact Lenses Compared With Eyeglasses

Some specialists recommend the average cost of prescription spectacles is less than $300. If this is true, contact lenses cost more.

Likewise, many people who wear glasses do not purchase new glasses every year.

But the cost of spectacles can increase considerably if you choose premium features, such as high index lenses, progressive lenses, anti-reflective coating and designer frames. A pair of prescription eyeglasses with all these features can quickly surpass $800.

Cost Of Contact Lenses Compared With LASIK

It appears obvious that contact lenses are cheaper than vision correction surgery. And they are — at first.

Over the past few years, the typical cost of the most advanced type of LASIK surgery carried out in the United States has actually remained fairly steady, at about $2,150 per eye.

If LASIK expenses $4,300 for both eyes, that’s roughly 10 times the yearly combined cost of contact lenses and lens care solutions.

But that also means that after 10 years, LASIK surgery (if surgical results are steady and no extra laser treatment or glasses are needed) becomes more cost-effective than the cumulative cost of contact lens wear.

See also: Buying Contact Lenses Online

What Does Expensive Mean?

Eventually, the decision on whether contacts are expensive depends on the value you connect to them compared with the worth of other optional costs.

For instance, how does the worth you obtain from wearing contacts compare with the worth you would receive from a designer suit? Or a periodic supper at an upscale dining establishment? It’s up to you.