Are all contact lens solutions created equal?

I also wear hard (actually RGP) lenses, and had a bad experience with the Target brand solution. It took me about two weeks to figure out why my eyes had become more "gummy" and why I had intense sensitivity to light, especially in the morning just after putting in my contacts—duh! I finally read the list of possible side effects, and found that I was having many of them. I always use Boston now, even though it is expensive.

Anectodal, since you said that was okay: when I asked my eye doctor about switching to a store brand, he told me to stick with the brand name I was using because it worked for me and it wasn't worth the problems if another brand didn't work (I'm allergic to nickel, and it can show up in some brands of contact solutions). I wasn't buying it from him, so he didn't have a financial interest in which brand I chose.

What Floydd said. Look at this way. Sometimes I cook fancy meals for myself on friends in my kitchen, on my stove. Sometimes I make ungodly stinky pet treats that no human should ever eat. Same line, different product. Sometimes you're paying for a label. Sometimes you're paying for a possibly meaningful difference in ingredients - nothing significant, just the equivalent of a product that has X, Y, and Z vs. one that "may contain one of more of the following." But if your eyes are fine, whatever. Not like you're using spit or Visine. Right now, my stupid eyes will only tolerate those crazy-expensive tear tubes and preservative-free saline. Enjoy those generics while you can!

This is my thinking on the matter of any "generic brand" being manufactured in the same plant, indeed on the same line, as the name brand items (and I can't really back it up except to say it Makes Sense TM). If quality control was to decide that a line could produce 10,000 bottles from one batch of solution, and the first 6,000 would be of optimal quality, where the last 4,000 would be fine for use but not considered on par with the first 6,000. It then seems to me that it would make sense to switch labeling at that point and sell the last 4,000 bottles at a lower price to a store brand. Perhaps on some brands this makes no difference whether the batch is at the end of the vat or the beginning, on others some might notice a distinct difference. And of course I'm sure some generic brands are simply a different product (perhaps a factory that makes generic brands across multiple stores, ie. FMV, Great Value, Target, etc). With this thinking I've always held that I'll try any generic brand once before I decide which I prefer. In the end if your eyes aren't bothering you with generic solution (as mine don't) then by all means use it.

I tried using cheap Long's Drugs solution once, and my eyes didn't like it. My understanding is that while the bottles, etc., for generics may be filled a the same factory, the quality control tolerances are looser for generics than they are for the 'brand'. This isn't so important for things like Costco brand underwear or socks or something, but for something I put in my eyes ....

Personally, I have excessively sensitive eyes, so I have to pick and choose my lens cleaners carefully - there are some brands I just can't use (of the expensive variety). Same goes for lubricating solutions - I usually go preservative-free when I can. So, I guess, as long as you don't have problems - awesome. But I certainly have to be a bit picky.

I wear non-disposable soft contacts and after years of using Renu/Bausch&Lomb, I tried the Walmart brand and found it to work the exact same. I don't know if all the extras hyped in the name brands make a real difference (or if they're even exclusive to those brands), but if they do, I can't tell. Might as well spend a few bucks and try the generic types to see how they go, and you could probably get a refund if your eyes don't like them. I'd say it couldn't hurt to give it a shot, but apparently... it could. You can also save money with packs of generic lens cases (I have no idea how the name brands can charge so much for plastic containers).

I think part of it depends on which name brand you're talking about. I'm sensitive/allergic to certain contact lens preservatives, so I use either Clear Care or AOSEPT (the bubbly ones with the case that snaps in) since they're preservative-free. I've never actually seen a generic solution that's preservative free, sadly.

For the 1 or 2 bottles a year it's worth the extra $5. Get the real stuff, just in case there really is a benefit. After all, you only get one set of eyes. That said, I have discovered that the cases that come with the solution take SO MUCH solution to fill up the case and cover the contacts. http://pro.corbis.com/images/CB026479.jpg?size=572&uid=%7Be12e7b57-7726-420d-9580-74f9d4cced31%7D holds 1/2 to a 1/4 of the solution that you'd use in a regular case. This cuts your cost obviously in half or quarter, and therefore you can buy the expensive solution! ta da! love, smart contact wearer of 12 years