What Is the Difference Between Bausch & Lomb SofLens & PureVision?

Bausch and Lomb produces a variety of eye-care products, including the PureVision and SofLens lenses. Although both types of contact lenses correct the same vision problems, there are differences in terms of physical properties, length of use and strength.

Physical Properties

• SofLens lenses have a much higher water content and less tint than PureVision lenses. While the water content of SofLens is 66 percent, it is 36 percent in a PureVision lens. PureVision lenses feature up to 300 parts per million of blue dye, as opposed to 100 parts per million in SofLens. This means that SofLens lenses allow 99 percent of light to pass through compared with 95 percent for PureVision lenses.

Length of Use

• Patients can use both types of lenses daily, but can wear PureVision lenses for longer periods between removals. According to Bausch and Lomb, PureVision lenses can be worn for up to 30 days, but SofLens Lenses for only seven days.

Strength

• Although SofLens and PureVision are similar in their ability to correct vision, SofLens lenses are more powerful in terms of correcting astigmatism. Bausch and Lomb indicates that PureVision lenses are effective for astigmatism correction of no more than 2.00 diopters, while SofLens can correct astigmatism of up to 5.00 diopters.