Wearing contact lenses has been very common for years, but all of us, men and women, have ever made the mistake of sleeping with contact lenses when they shouldn't. Throughout this text we are going to explain the serious consequences of this little oversight and how to remove them without damaging our eyes.
A priori sleeping with contact lenses seems harmless, it's like sleeping without removing make-up, the next day the pillowcase is dirty and maybe we get a pimple. But not. In the case of contact lenses, the consequences can be much more serious.
Nor are we going to lose our eye by sleeping once with the contact lenses on, but this simple mistake of sleeping with contact lenses has a series of consequences that we will explain below. In addition, we are going to give some advice for the correct removal of these, since we cannot remove them at once no matter how much they bother us. The first thing is to have many bottles of artificial tears prepared.
What happens if I sleep with contact lenses?
Contact lenses are made not to be felt, that is, if they bothered they would not be sold. This is why so many times we forget that we are wearing them and that is when the mistakes of falling asleep with them on arrive.
What always happens in these circumstances, and which is dangerous if taken to the extreme, is that the lens, no matter how breathable it is, cuts off the oxygen that reaches the corneas and this causes the area to dry out and the lens to stick. even more to the eye.
And now the big question: Is it so bad to leave your contact lenses in? Our eyes are not going to fall out, nor are we going to go blind. You just have to try to make that mistake be that, a mistake and not a habit.
The only thing that will happen to us, if it has not been many hours, is that our eyes will be red, they will itch, we will have a slight discomfort and perhaps we will see cloudy. In the worst case, we can even have a serious infection or inflammation of the cornea.
When it happens to us many times and we forget our contact lenses for a whole day, that is when the consequences arrive. Let's remember that there are different types of contact lenses, there are even some that are worn all day, you can even sleep with them, they are known as long-wear lenses.
This type of contact lenses are indicated for people with special needs or people with a very specific lifestyle that require uninterrupted use of the lenses.
What's more, we cannot choose the type of contact lenses, but it is the optician or ophthalmologist who analyzes our situation and makes us the best recommendation based on his criteria.
Main consequences of sleeping with contact lenses
Let's remember that contact lenses are a transparent film that sticks to the eye and the greater the lack of hydration, the more it sticks to the eye, so that's where the problems begin. In addition, we have to remember that, although contact lenses without are becoming more and more breathable, even so, they greatly reduce the entry of oxygen and the natural hydration of the eyeball.
- Dryness of the eyeball.
- Peaks.
- Pain.
- Redness.
- Contact lenses stuck to the eyes.
- Temporary blurred vision.
- Conjunctivitis.
- Infections
- Inflammation of the cornea.
- Ulcers on the cornea.
- Keratitis.
All this is not going to happen to us from sleeping a whole night, nor from taking a 30-minute nap after eating, but rather more serious problems such as infections, ulcers or keratitis They appear when the mistake of sleeping with contact lenses becomes a habit, the lenses are not of good quality, we manipulate our eyes with dirty hands, we use contact lenses that are not suitable for 24-hour use, etc.
It is true that the risk of eye infection is high from the first mistake, but it usually happens when there are several nights, or when we have normal contact lenses, but we use them for more than 12 hours.
How do I take off my lenses?
It has become clear that sleeping with contact lenses is not a good idea, so now we are going to see what to do in case we have woken up in that situation. Before we want to clarify that under no circumstances rub our eyes intensely and putting pressure on the eyeball, since this can aggravate the situation, even deforming the cornea if we do it many times over a period of time.
The correct steps to remove the lenses from the eyes are as follows:
- We should not remove the contact lenses immediately, since, due to the lack of hydration, they will be stuck to the cornea.
- We slowly massage the eyelid in circles with the eye closed.
- When we notice that the eye is more hydrated, we try to remove them, always with very clean hands.
- If they are not removed, we use artificial tears.
- If we still can't remove them, we use artificial tears again. Nothing to use utensils, nor the nail, nor try to lift it, nor press the eye, nor are there tweezers, nor anything that could damage the eye. Let's not get nervous, going out is going to come out, it just needs hydration and time.
- If we cannot get it out, it is best to seek professional help at a pharmacy, clinic or hospital and have them remove the lens(es) from our eyes, thus avoiding further damage due to lack of information or experience.
Throughout that day we do not use contact lenses again, we will have to go back to the glasses or not use anything. We have to put the eye to rest after all the stress it's been through. At least leave your eyes calm for a minimum of 10 or 12 hours.
If hours or days go by and we feel that this discomfort does not disappear, it is time to visit an ophthalmologist and have our eyes and vision checked. We may have something stuck, some type of infection from having manipulated the eye with dirty hands, damage to the cornea from forcing the eye when removing the lenses, etc.