Key Takeaways
- Sleeping in contact lenses increases your risk of corneal infection by six to eight times, according to the CDC.
- Even a single night of sleeping in lenses can cause problems — there is no "safe" amount of time.
- Extended-wear lenses approved for overnight use still carry a higher risk than removing your lenses every night.
- If you wake up wearing your lenses, follow a careful step-by-step protocol before trying to remove them.
- A contact lens fitting with an FYidoctors optometrist can help you find the safest lens option for your lifestyle.
Why Sleeping in Contact Lenses Is Risky
Your cornea needs oxygen to stay healthy. Contact lenses already reduce the amount of oxygen reaching the surface of your eye, and when you close your eyelids during sleep, that oxygen supply drops even further. Together, these conditions create an environment where bacteria thrive. The relationship between sleep and your vision is well established, and adding contact lenses to the equation raises the stakes significantly.
Research confirms that sleeping in contacts is the single most significant modifiable risk factor for microbial keratitis, a serious corneal infection that can threaten your vision. The CDC reports that wearing lenses overnight increases infection risk by six to eight times compared to removing them before bed every night.
Despite these risks, many wearers still take chances. Surveys show that more than 80 percent of contact lens wearers engage in at least one risky behaviour, and sleeping or napping in lenses is among the most common. In fact, roughly one-third of wearers admit to sleeping or napping while wearing their contacts.
The takeaway is straightforward: every hour your lenses stay in while you sleep, you are raising the odds of a problem you do not want to face.
What Can Happen If You Sleep in Your Contacts
Corneal Infections and Microbial Keratitis
Microbial keratitis is an infection of the cornea that can progress quickly. Left untreated or caught too late, it may lead to corneal scarring, the need for a corneal transplant, or permanent vision loss.
A CDC case series documented six patients who developed serious infections directly linked to sleeping in their contact lenses. Some required months of hourly antibiotic eye drops and still suffered lasting damage to their vision. Notably, the infections occurred in patients using both daily disposable lenses worn beyond their intended schedule and lenses specifically prescribed for extended wear. Neither lens type made sleeping in contacts safe.
These are not fringe cases. They represent a pattern that eye care professionals see regularly, and they underscore why optometrists consistently advise removing lenses before bed.
Dry Eyes, Irritation, and Corneal Abrasions
Not every consequence of sleeping in contacts is an infection, but that does not mean the effects are harmless. A single night can leave your eyes dry and uncomfortable. During sleep, your lenses can adhere to the corneal surface, and attempting to remove them when they are stuck can cause micro-abrasions — tiny scratches on the cornea.
What feels like minor irritation may actually mask the early stages of infection. If you experience lingering discomfort after sleeping in your lenses, treat it seriously rather than assuming it will resolve on its own.
What to Do If You Fell Asleep in Your Contacts
Accidentally falling asleep in your contacts is common — maybe you dozed off on the couch or were too exhausted to go through your nighttime routine. Here is how to handle it safely:
Step 1: Stay calm and resist the urge to immediately pull your lenses out. Removing a dry, adhered lens can scratch your cornea.
Step 2: Blink slowly several times and apply preservative-free rewetting drops or saline solution. Give your lenses a minute or two to rehydrate and loosen on the surface of your eye.
Step 3: Once the lenses move freely when you blink, gently remove them. If a lens still feels stuck, add more drops and wait longer.
Step 4: Wear your glasses for the rest of the day. Your eyes need time to recover, and putting in a fresh pair of contacts right away adds unnecessary stress.
Step 5: Watch for warning signs. Persistent redness, pain, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, or any discharge are signals that something may be wrong.
When to contact your optometrist: If symptoms last more than a few hours or if pain and vision changes are getting worse rather than better, book an appointment right away. With more than 300 locations across Canada, FYidoctors makes it easy to get same-day care when you need it.
Can You Nap in Contact Lenses?
Many wearers assume a quick nap is harmless, but even a 20-minute snooze reduces the oxygen supply to your cornea and gives bacteria an opportunity to multiply. There is no clinically established "safe" nap duration when it comes to wearing contacts.
The safest approach is simple: remove your lenses before any planned sleep, no matter how brief. Keep a contact lens case and solution in your bag or at your desk so you are always prepared.
If you find yourself frequently napping in your lenses, bring it up at your next appointment. Your optometrist can discuss whether daily disposable lenses or an extended-wear option might better suit your routine.
Are There Contact Lenses You Can Sleep In?
Extended-Wear Contact Lenses
Certain silicone hydrogel lenses have been approved for continuous wear, some for up to six nights and others for as many as 30 nights. Brands such as Air Optix Night & Day Aqua and Biofinity fall into this category.
However, "approved" does not mean "risk-free." Ophthalmologists at Washington University recommend nightly removal even with extended-wear lenses because the infection risk, while lower than with standard soft lenses, remains higher than simply taking your contacts out every evening.
Extended-wear lenses are generally reserved for patients who genuinely cannot manage daily removal due to physical limitations or specific medical needs — not as a convenience shortcut. An optometrist must prescribe and properly fit them — and evaluate whether your eyes are healthy enough to handle overnight wear.
Ortho-K — Overnight Lenses Designed for Sleep
Orthokeratology, or ortho-k, takes a fundamentally different approach. These are rigid gas-permeable lenses specifically designed to be worn during sleep. Rather than correcting your vision while you wear them during the day, ortho-k lenses gently reshape your cornea overnight so you can see clearly without any lenses the next day.
Because they are gas-permeable, ortho-k lenses allow significantly more oxygen to reach the cornea than soft lenses do. They require professional fitting and regular follow-up visits, along with consistent lens hygiene, but for the right candidate, they offer a genuinely different solution.
FYidoctors offers ortho-k fittings at locations across Canada. If overnight vision correction interests you, book a consultation to find out whether ortho-k is a good fit.
FAQ
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