DO NOT sleep in your contacts

We know. You had a busy day, and the only thing on your mind is jumping into that large and inviting bed.  The last thing you are thinking about is removing those contacts you placed in your eyes that morning. We are not going to pretend like you have not already heard to remove your contacts while you sleep for the hundredth time. What we will do is explain why you want to remember to remove your contacts before you get in your beauty sleep.

Your body does not naturally produce contacts. So, that means it is a foreign object that you are introducing to your body. Your body must make adjustment to house these plastic objects. The small and unassuming nature of contacts can mislead wearers of the potential risk they face when wearing them.

Your eyes require a steady supply of tears and oxygen to keep them healthy. To be more specific, your cornea needs oxygen directly from the air. When wearing contact lenses, you are blocking the path oxygen needs to travel to get to the cornea. They also need tears to remain lubricated to help wash away bacteria. The contacts serve as another barrier between your cornea and your tears. This can lead to dry eyes. Each time you close your eyes for even a short nap, you could wake up with the feeling of your eyes being extremely dry and scratchy. The risk of abrasions to the eyes is increased when removing lenses from dry eyes (Nussbaum, 2015).

With everything we have stated above, it is important to know that the risk of an eye injury increases the longer you continuously wear your contacts. It is imperative to give your eyes the break they need from contacts while you sleep. More abrasions will give more room to bacteria looking for a home. This bacteria can lead to infection, and the infection can lead to scaring, pain, light sensitivity, and blurry vision. In some cases, where people failed to remove their contacts, corneal transplants were necessary (Woodhams Eye Clinic, 2015).

What about the extended wear contacts?  These contacts are made to allow more airflow through to the cornea. The important word there is more. Your extended wear contact lenses should be cleaned at least weekly to prevent infection to the cornea.

So, while we know that accidental naps happen, we want to make sure that you kick the habit of falling asleep in your contacts. Your eyes need a break as much as you do. Clean those contacts before wearing them again, and let your eyes get the beauty sleep they deserve.