Why is it bad to sleep with your contacts in?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

It isn't necessarily "bad" to sleep in contacts. In fact there are contacts specifically designed to be slept in. Understand, though, that even though you sleep in a contact designed to be slept in, you still have an increased risk of various ocular complications simply by sleeping in the lens. So, if it isn't critical that you sleep in your lenses, I recommend removing them at night so as to decrease your risks.

Me. I am an optometric physician.

Yes it is bad for your eyes.
the front of your eyes, the cornea, gets its oxygen form the air not from the heart lung system. If you over wear your lenses or sleep in the wrong type then the cornea gets starved of oxygen. After a while blood vessels will grow into your cornea and they will loose transparency. This can lead to corneal grafts which can revascularise.
Best advise - speak to your optometrist and get lenses you can sleep in as they transmit more oxygen.

If you are going to sleep in your lenses, you need to switch to a kind that is safe to sleep in. Ask your optometrist about it at your next exam. Toric lenses are more of a problem because they are thicker. I have tried talking patients out of sleeping in their lenses but it is hard to quit. A change in materials is much easier. Air Optixs and Biofinity both make lenses that would probably meet your needs.

optometrist