Can I Take a Nap in My Contacts?

We know we shouldn’t drop off to sleep in our contacts, however like “accidentally” eating some expired pesto or “accidentally” popping a zit, sometimes it just takes place. Late nights occur. Naps take place.

Can You Take a Nap in Your Contact Lenses?

However after hearing reports of people going blind as an outcome, we started to fret. And from investigating and speaking to experts, we realized we may really have need to.

So, you ask “can I take a short nap with my contacts in?” Let’s find the answer with argumentation. As the body’s only type of transparent tissue, the cornea gets its oxygen exclusively from the air. That suggests that when you put in contact lenses, the oxygen supply decreases a bit, and when you close your eyes, the supply lessens more. When you integrate the two, the oxygen can be critically decreased.

Can I Take a Nap in My Contacts?
Image for question: Can I Take a Nap in Contact Lenses?

Without oxygen, the cornea inflates — not a cartoonish, popping-out-of-your-head amount, however enough so that gaps appear between the eye’s surface cells, where bacteria can sneak in. This bacteria may increase your risk of eye infection by almost sevenfold. And since the eye does not have the body’s same body immune system protection, things can turn bad quick.

If that weren’t enough, the lenses can work like a Petri dish. So if there’s any bacteria on your lenses (typical culprit: a lens case that’s seen much better days), you’re essentially holding them right versus your eye.

Gross and frightening as this sounds, a 15-minute nap in your contacts should be OK, right? The swelling starts immediately and continues as long as your eyelids are closed, so the longer you sleep (state a complete eight hours versus 15 minutes), the riskier the game.

When you wear contacts, every blink versus them produces a tiny abrasion.

Oversleeping contacts likewise tinkers your eyes in the long run. We blink about 3 million times a year, and when you wear contacts, every blink against them produces a tiny abrasion. Over time, the eyelid’s inner lining ends up being rougher from all the rubbing, keeping it from reaching the very same levels of lubrication. Include the inflammation from using your contacts to bed, and it just intensifies the issue.

That means most everybody’s essentially predestined for drier, more allergy – and infection-prone eyes, and those who sleep in their contacts boost their risk of one day not being able to wear lenses at all. The “shocked” emoji basically accomplishes.

What to Do If You Sometimes Have to Nap with Daily Contacts in?

Delaying your nap by 30 seconds to get your contacts deserves it — as is doing your best to avoid oversleeping them, or asking your doctor about lenses that are FDA-approved for over night wear. Otherwise, if you absolutely must oversleep your lenses (long flights on an aircraft, unexpected pajama parties, that example), keep in mind to flood your eyes with drops upon awakening. Hands off the contacts up until then — prying a persistent lens out can possibly scratch your cornea, leaving you with lasting damage on top of the kind already done by dozing.

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Comments: 4
  1. Ivan Petrescu

    Dozing in contact lenses can be rather harmful and have harmful consequences, such as Corneal hypoxia, Inflammation and infection, Corneal abrasion, Ulceration of the cornea, Neovascularization.

    Using a contact lens typically wont cause damage if you are taking a snooze for an hour or 2. Nevertheless longer is where you will run into issues like over night for days on end.

    Inflammation will take place albeit minor. The cornea will swell triggering your lenses to fit tight and lenses will become non-moving. Biofilm will coat lenses further minimizing oxygen flow. Corneal damage will occur making your eyes suseptible to infection. Eyelids may swell along with oxygen deficit will occur. even with high O2 silicone hydrogel soft lenses or rgp lenses this can still take place. If you do this long enough you may establish gpc, bleph, dry eyes and all the conditions noted above. and so on. Triggering long-term intolerance to wearing contact lenses.

    Contact lens related issues often need medications to deal with and can get complicated. So why take the risk even with the ones promoted safe to do so.Sleeping with lenses day/night has actually been revealed to increase severe side effects.If you do nap in them, flood your eyes with rewetting drops to keep motion and a clean lens surface area.

  2. Sonya Bolden

    If you nap with contact lenses, you won’t have serious results (I snooze with them frequently). If you sleep with them (from night till the early morning), you can have issues, primarily infections since your eyes end up being a great “home” for bacterial recreation. You just need to be careful and really avoid sleeping with them. Likewise, keep your lenses clean and preserve them well (constantly before putting them into your eyes and after you take them out). Without proper health, you can capture infections very typically.

  3. Pam from NY

    Contact lenses cover the whole corneal surface area and forms a barrier between the cornea and the tear movie. This surface area is essential for carrying of nutrients inside the eye. For this reason, less quantity of nutrients reach the cornea.

    Likewise, extensive wearing of lenses causes imbibition of water inside the corneal tissue which in turn triggers corneal edema and blurred vision. This phenomenon is called ‘spectacle blur’.

  4. Cosmic Girl

    Not all contact lenses require to be gotten rid of prior to going to sleep, even if it is a nap sleep. Some can be worn as much as a month at a time or 2 weeks at a time although it’s best to take them out in the evening. I go to sleep with my contacts in periodically and what happens is you get protein buildup and all you require to do is put some solution on the contact and on your thumb and forefinger and rub it and then put it in the service let it soak a bit and the protein is eliminated and you have a clean contact.

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