# Contact Lens Prices and Types

Source page: https://www.kudretgozistanbul.com/en/blog/intraocular-lens-treatments/contact-lens-prices

**Author:** Kudret Eye İstanbul | **Medical Approval:** Op. Dr. Mehmet Ali Özdil | **Date:** 2026-09-06

> **Summary:** Contact lens prices vary with the lens type, material, brand, how the lens is supplied and the details of the prescription. This article explains those price factors, the main types of contact lens and how to put lenses in safely. No specific prices are given.

## Quick Facts
- **Price factors:** Lens type and wearing period, material, brand, import and supply, prescription complexity
- **Where cheaper:** Online optician sites and promotions; shops are usually slightly more expensive
- **Wider factors:** Import duties, exchange rates and inflation

---

## What Affects Contact Lens Prices?
- **Type of lens:** daily, monthly and yearly lenses differ in pack price. Rigid gas permeable (RGP, hard) lenses generally last longer and, being made to order, can cost more.
- **Material:** silicone hydrogel lenses with high oxygen permeability, advanced moisture retention or a UV filter add cost.
- **Brand:** international brands price higher due to research, development and advertising; lesser known brands are more affordable, but quality brands are recommended for comfort.
- **Manufacture and supply:** exchange rates and customs charges raise the price of imported lenses.
- **Prescription:** high prescriptions or combined corrections need custom manufacture and can cost more.
- **Where bought:** online opticians and promotions can be cheaper; shops carry staff and rent costs.

## Types of Contact Lens
- Clear, coloured, prosthetic, therapeutic and chromogen lenses.

**Clear lenses:** toric (for astigmatism), daily, monthly, yearly, aphakic, overnight-wear and high-prescription lenses.
- **Toric:** soft lenses correcting astigmatism; spherical lenses correct refractive error in eyes without astigmatism.
- **Multifocal:** soft lenses correcting age-related loss of near vision after forty, for distance and near.
- **Rigid gas permeable:** high oxygen permeability; for corneal astigmatism and cone-shaped corneas.
- **Hybrid:** rigid optical centre with soft surround; for thinned or cone-shaped corneas (which have high astigmatism that soft lenses or glasses cannot correct adequately) where rigid lenses are hard to get used to.

**Coloured lenses:** worn mainly for cosmetic reasons to change the look of the eye.

**Therapeutic lenses:** support corneal epithelial healing, prevent epithelial erosion and control corneal surface pain; only on an ophthalmologist's prescription.

**Prosthetic lenses:** make two differently coloured eyes look the same colour; can be tinted to the desired shade.

**Chromogen lenses:** for colour vision deficiency and reading difficulties; help distinguish colours, make them brighter and clearer, improve colour test performance and aid colour recognition in traffic. Chromogen haploscopic filters can also be used as an intraocular lens or glasses. They do not cure colour blindness.

## How to Put In Contact Lenses
- Clean your hands.
- Rinse the lens with lens solution to remove dust or particles.
- Check it is not inside out (edges turning outwards); turn it back gently if so.
- Pull down the lower lid with one finger, hold the eyelid open with another and place the lens slowly.
- Repeat for the other eye. Different techniques and applicators are available.

---

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Why do contact lens prices vary so much?**
A: Because of the lens type, brand, material and whether it is imported.

**Q: Is it safe to buy contact lenses online?**
A: They can be bought from official sites of trusted opticians, but the first pair should always follow an eye examination.

**Q: Can you sleep in contact lenses?**
A: Not recommended, except for lenses specially designed to stay in the eye overnight.

**Q: Do lenses for colour blindness cure it completely?**
A: No, they only make colours easier to tell apart.

**Q: Does my prescription need to be stable before I start wearing contact lenses?**
A: No, but an eye examination is essential so that the correct prescription is used.