Leaving my contacts in for a month at a time... will it damag my eyes later in life?

Question

Well I have had contacts scince the fourth grade. I use just plain basic acuvee which said that you can leave in for 6 nights. I must admit though.. I am very bad at taking them out. I really only even change them or take them out when one rips or falls out and I just put another one directly in. This means normally about a month or a little less with them in. My eyes are fine now but will this cause damage to my eyes later in life? I don't want to be blind when I'm 50. I have fallen into a very bad habit of doing this but if it really is damaging to my eye I will be scared into just leaving them in for a week?

and of couse I mean damage not damag in the question.. oops

Answer 1

You are severely depriving your corneas from the oxygen they need to be healthy! I also think you are misunderstanding the actual recommended wear schedule for your contact lenses: "Daily wear for up to 2 weeks or continuous wear for up to six nights” That is right from the acuvue website for those type of contacts. That is stating that you can either wear them for 2 weeks taking out and cleaning them every night... or wear them for 6 days and then dispose (not wear them for a month straight).
I personally think the less you wear contact lenses the better to keep your eyes healthy otherwise there can be pretty serious consequences.... you are greatly increasing your risks of infection.
Also you are depriving your cornea of oxygen.... blood vessels will begin to grow in your cornea to compensate for the lack of oxygen..... this is called corneal neovascularization... it actually can become very complicated and even result in loss of vision. It can be reversed in less severe cases by increasing the amount of oxygen to your eyes by not wearing contact lenses or wearing lenses with greater oxygen transmission. You can also have problems like a corneal ulcer and gpc.....and the list goes on lol

This is not something that will happen when you are 50.... this is something that can literally happen in a day, a week, a year, 2 years... you get the point....

I would say the way you are wearing contact lenses you probably have already started creating damage to your corneas and if you continue you will see the repercussions in the near future.....
Please do not wear your lenses like that.... I am only saying this trying to help you...
I would highly recommend seeing your eye doctor for an exam and discussing this issue
Good luck

Answer 2

Contact lenses inhibit the oxygen from your cornea. You really should try to take them out every night and clean them. It gives your eyes a chance to breathe and cleans the lenses before putting them on in the morning. You are more likely to get an infection from leaving them in for extended periods of time. Don't risk your eyes!! Oh, by the way, you can develop an allergic reaction to contact lenses over time.

Answer 3

You are almost certainly causing damage to your eyes NOW, depleting corneal endothelial cells which do not get replaced.
You have vast spare numbers of these but they normally reduce with age. Using them up at a faster rate is storing up problems for later in life.
This can lead to Corneal Exhaustion Syndrome, an eye that reacts badly to any oxygen deprivation, and is short of resources to handle any unusual demand on it:
an inability to wear any sort of contact lens, through to making corneal surgery, if needed, risky, through to poor vision, painful eyes and worse.

That's aside from the risk of infection or reaction to the accumulation of cell debris under the contact lens.

If you must sleep in lenses you need to be in high oxygen transmission silicone hydrogel lenses.
Or move to daily disposables and never sleep in them.

Yes, you should be a bit scared for your future self.
Sorry, but it's the truth.

Optometrist, (retired).

Answer 4

yep, i'm afraid you're damaging your eyes progressively which could lead to very serious consequenses later in life, and this could before you reach 50!
Contact lenses are a modern luxury...they are not designed to stay in your eyes. Supposedly, u wear them for 8hrs maximum, then take them off. Your eyes need oxygen...contacts block oxygen form reaching your eyes. Its like you are persisting to stay under water eventhough you're gasping for air.
Leaving your contacts in, you are introducing bacteria...lenses need to be cleansed, just like your hair. Apart from causing protein build-up in your eyes and bacteria, each time you blink, there is friction between the lens and the back of the 'eye cap' which causes hardening! This hard skin takes ages to cure and becomes chronic! Then you can kiss your lenses good bye.

take care xxx

Answer 5

Well I too leave my contacts in all the time. I have the ones that I believe your supposed to take out every day but I don't I leave them in for a long time actually before taking them out. I'm not sure if they will damage your eyes in the future I have heard people say that it will but my Mom always left her contacts in and her eyes actually got a little bit better so I'm not sure if it can make your eyes worse. The biggest reaction I always get is how can you do that since most people cant stand to leave their contacts in all the time.

Answer 6

i wear gas permeable lenses. i do leave them in overnight, but that was after wearing them a year. gas perm lenses do not sit on your eye like soft lenses do. gas perm lenses will float on a layer of tears. the lenses get cleaned everyday, and polished at the dr if they feel like they are collecting a build up of protein. here is the big +++ of gas perm lenses. since switching from soft lenses to gas permeable lenses, my prescription has not changed, and i haven't needed to buy different lenses in over 10 years.... that is typical of these lenses, they last and last and your eye don't worsen over time. the only tough part is adjusting to how they feel, after you are used to wearing them you are good to go.