Eyenvisioncare Store & Info Center

Is it safe to sleep in your contacts? The answer to that question is mostly no unless you are wearing lenses specifically approved for overnight wear and are wearing them in the manner their eye-doctor advised.

In a national survey, almost half of contact lens wearers said they would like to be able to wear their contact lenses to bed. Two-thirds said they would do so if their eye-doctor said it was alright. Many people have dozed off in their contact lenses without any problems.

Given that you might get away with an occasional nap in your lenses does not guarantee you will be able to sleep routinely in your lenses without consequences. What happens when you sleep with them on and they are not the type approved for nightwear is the contact lenses restrict the flow of oxygen to the surface of your eye (the cornea), and the longer you wear the lenses, the longer the flow of oxygen is restricted.

What can happen in extreme cases of over-wearing lenses, new veins can grow out into the cornea as the body tries to correct for the oxygen deficit but rememeber that is extreme. 
If you want to sleep in your lenses, you should ask your eye-doctor to prescribe lenses approved for overnight wear? Many of the new silicone hydrogels are approved, including the Focus Night & Day, which is the only lens approved for a full 30-days of wear.

There are also numerous conventional (hema) soft lenses that are approved for up to 7 days of extended wear  all of the major manufacturers offer such lenses. Check with your doctor, it might be that you are already wearing this type of lens. It can happen when you order online because you may not be aware of all the that your lenses are approved for.