Sleeping with contact lenses can leave holes in the cornea: study

Contact lenses are meant to make life easier for people facing difficulties with vision. But not being careful with them can leave people with worse condition as has been seen in recent cases.

While a woman’s contact lens was found lodged in her eyelid decades after an accident, sleeping with them can also be dangerous. A new study is advising people against doing so, since it may leave them with a hole in their cornea.

It found that sleeping with contact lenses can increase risk of eye infections eight fold. Eyes are delicate organs that require saline, oxygen and good nutrition, but contact lenses may suffocate them although they reduce strain caused to eyes.

Lack of oxygen can make eyeballs vulnerable to bacteria that live on skin or in the mouth. It weakens defence systems in the eye and allows tiny holes to form on the surface of the cornea.