Soft contact lenses are made of soft, flexible plastics that allow oxygen to pass through to the cornea. Soft contact lenses may be easier to adjust to and are more comfortable than rigid gas permeable lenses. Newer soft lens materials include silicone-hydrogels to provide more oxygen to your eye while you wear your lenses.

Rigid gas permeable contact lenses (RGPs) are more durable and resistant to deposit buildup. They tend to be less expensive over the life of the lens since they last longer than soft lenses.

They are easier to handle and less likely to tear. However, they are not as comfortable initially as soft contacts and it may take a few weeks to get used to wearing RGPs, compared to several days for soft contacts.

Continuous wear contact lenses are available for overnight or continuous wear ranging from one to six nights or up to 30 days. Continuous wear contact lenses are usually soft contact lenses. They are made of flexible plastics that allow oxygen to pass through to the cornea. There are also a very few rigid gas permeable lenses that are designed and approved for overnight wear.

Length of continuous wear depends on lens type and your eye care professional's evaluation of your tolerance for overnight wear. It is important for the eyes to have a rest without lenses for at least one night following each scheduled removal.

The majority of soft contact lens wearers are prescribed some type of frequent replacement schedule. "Disposable," as defined by the FDA, means used once and discarded. With a true daily wear disposable schedule, a brand new pair of lenses is used each day. Some soft contact lenses are referred to as "disposable" by contact lens sellers, but actually, they are for frequent/planned replacement (for example, 7 days to 30 days) and then thrown away.

Some contact lenses do not correct vision and are intended solely to change the appearance of the eye. These are sometimes called plano, zero-powered or non-corrective lenses. For example, they can temporarily change a brown-eyed person's eye color to blue, or make a person's eyes look weird by portraying Halloween themes. Even though these decorative lenses don't correct vision, they're regulated by the FDA, just like corrective contact lenses.

Scleral lenses are larger lenses made of gas permeable material used to correct vision in a number of conditions such as keratoconus, post-refractive surgery corneal issues, ocular surface disease, dry eye, and normal refractive errors.

They are called "scleral" lenses because, these lenses cover the "white" of the eye (the sclera). Because of this type of fit, they are less likely to accidentally dislodge from the eye compared to conventional GP lenses.