Maybe you’re thinking about getting contacts? Perhaps you are currently using contacts and want to know if you’re using them improperly? Regardless, you’re wondering: can you sleep in contacts?
The answer is a loud and resounding NO! Sleeping with contacts in your eyes leaves you vulnerable to a range of eye conditions, all of which we’re going to discuss below.
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Why Can’t You Sleep With Contacts In?
The reason that you can’t sleep with contacts in is that it increases your risk for corneal infection by 6 to 8 times. Corneal infection can have extreme consequences, including vision loss, severe eye dryness, and the need for surgery.
There are a number of different types of corneal infections that you have to look out for. These include the following.
Bacterial Keratitis
Bacterial keratitis is a condition in which the cornea becomes inflamed due to bacterial exposure. Bacteria can make their way onto contacts either through the user’s fingers or through a storage case. The longer the bacteria are trapped against the eye, the more damage they can do.
This is why you don’t want to sleep with your contacts in. Sleeping for 7 to 9 hours with bacteria trapped against your eye can lead to severe damage, and could even cause eyesight loss.
Fungal Keratitis
If you live in a particularly humid part of the world, you could have to contend with fungal keratitis. This is when fungus causes an infection of the eye.
When it comes to contacts, the fungus can grow on them over time, especially if they’re not cleaned regularly. And just as with bacteria, trapping fungus against your eye for 7 to 9 hours can do quite a bit of damage to your eyesight.
Acanthamoeba Keratitis
Acanthamoeba keratitis is an eye infection caused by amoeba. Amoeba is single-celled organisms that thrive in water. While they’re most typically found in dirty water sources such as lakes or rivers, they can exist in tap water, and even in moist areas such as basements and air conditioners.
Should you touch a water source and then touch your contacts, you could spread amoeba to your eyes. Trapping this amoeba against your eyes overnight will almost certainly result in an infection, which could cause you to lose portions of your eyesight.
So, instead of keeping your contacts in at night, you should strive to find a pair of contacts that you can easily remove and put back in. Read this article for help choosing contact lenses.
Can You Sleep in Contacts? No!
And with that, we’ve given you a thorough answer to the question of “can you sleep in contacts?” As you can see, sleeping with contacts in is a huge no-no. While wearing contacts all day is fine, sleeping with them can have serious ramifications for your eye health.
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