Will Sleeping In Contacts Damage My Eyes?
Think twice before sleeping in your contact lenses. Yes, it’s tempting, especially when you’re exhausted. We’ve all been there! But here’s the important thing to remember: Most contact lenses are not designed for overnight wear. While some specialized contacts are made to be slept in, wearing regular lenses for a full night’s sleep can be bad for your eyes. You might not face major issues if it happens once or twice by accident, but making a habit of sleeping in your contacts can lead to serious, long-term, and even permanent damage to your vision. So, next time you’re debating it, remember: Your eyes are worth those extra few seconds of care.
Why Is Sleeping In My Contacts a Bad Idea?
In order to maintain eye health, your cornea needs a regular supply of oxygen. When your eyes are open during the day, your cornea can get the oxygen it needs from the air. At night, oxygen is absorbed from the eyelids. For daily contact users, the cornea is covered by the contacts and is unable to absorb much oxygen from the air. It is critical for corneal health that oxygen is available at night, which is why contacts should not be worn during sleep. Contacts that can be worn at night allow air to pass through the lens so that the cornea can get the oxygen that it needs, but most contacts are not manufactured with this purpose in mind. Sleeping in your contacts deprives the cornea of its much-needed nighttime supply of oxygen.
In addition to oxygen deprivation, leaving contacts in at night creates conditions that are ideal for infections. During the day, debris (including bacteria and viruses) may get under the contacts. Failure to remove the contacts at night allows the trapped microbes or viruses to multiply, and you are much more likely to end up with a bacterial or viral eye infection.
Here are common bad conditions as a result of sleeping with contact lenses not designed for overnight wear.
Contact Lens-Associated Keratitis
When you sleep in contact lenses, you’re putting your eyes at risk for serious infections from bacteria, fungi or even microscopic parasites called amoeba. These infections can lead to a condition called keratitis – basically, inflammation of your cornea (the clear front part of your eye).
It’s painful and can cause extreme light-sensitivity, making even normal light feel unbearably bright. The worst type is Amoebic keratitis. This particular infection is hard to treat and, unfortunately, can cause vision loss. If keratitis goes untreated, it can develop into corneal ulcers. In severe cases, this can lead to permanent vision loss, something no one wants to face over something as preventable as sleeping in contacts.
Sleeping In Contacts Can Cause Pink Eye
Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is the most common and least serious complication associated with sleeping in your contacts. This infection, usually caused by a virus, leads to inflamed and red eyes, and swollen eyelids. Your eyes may ooze and become quite itchy and uncomfortable. For those that develop giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC), bumps form on the inner eyelids. Though treatable, this condition is anything but pleasant, and can be avoided in most cases simply by removing your contacts at night!
Your Eyes Might Grow Extra Blood Vessels, and Its Dangerous
When you wear contact lenses while you sleep, your eyes are not getting the oxygen they need. Your contacts essentially create a barrier, and when your eyes are closed for hours overnight, that oxygen supply gets cut off.
To compensate for this oxygen deprivation, your body tries to help by growing new blood vessels in your corneas. This process is called neovascularization, and its goal is to increase blood flow to deliver more oxygen to your eye. While your body means well, it’s actually creating a bigger problem.
Unfortunately, this “solution” creates a new problem. These newly formed blood vessels can damage your vision. Your cornea is supposed to be crystal clear; that is how light travels through to give you sharp vision. But when new blood vessels start growing across this clear surface, they interfere with that light pathway. The result? Your vision becomes cloudy or blurred, and unfortunately, this damage can be permanent.
Is Your Bedtime Routine Harming Your Eyes?
Though it might seem like a pain to make sure you remove your contacts each night before bed, your eye health depends on it! Taking a few minutes to care for your eyes at night can prevent these complications from occurring and save your eyesight.
It’s not worth risking your eyesight by sleeping in your contacts. Find out more about your eye health and how we can help you improve your vision. Call 877.542.3937 today for a consultation.