No. Most contact lens wearers should never sleep in their lenses. According to the CDC, sleeping in contact lenses raises the risk of a contact lens eye infection six to eight times.
The risk applies to overnight sleep, short naps, and accidental dozing. The one exception is a lens the FDA approves for overnight wear, prescribed by your eye doctor, and worn on your doctor’s schedule. Even those lenses carry a higher infection risk than lenses you remove every night.
Why Sleeping With Contacts Affects Your Eyes
Your cornea has no blood vessels. The cornea pulls oxygen from the air, which dissolves into your tear film. When you close your eyes, far less oxygen reaches the corneal surface. A contact lens adds a second barrier on top of your closed eyelid. Four problems follow.
Oxygen Drops (Corneal Hypoxia)
With your eyes closed, oxygen at the cornea falls to roughly one-third of open-eye levels. A lens cuts the supply further. The cornea may swell, and you wake with haze, redness, or blurred vision. Eye doctors call this corneal hypoxia.
Oxygen transmissibility measures how much oxygen passes through a lens. Silicone hydrogel lenses pass more oxygen than older hydrogel lenses. No lens restores open-eye oxygen levels during sleep.
Germs Get Trapped in Your Eye
During the day, each blink flushes germs and debris off your eye. During sleep, blinking stops. The lens holds bacteria, fungi, and amoebas against the cornea for hours.
A swollen, oxygen-starved cornea fights infection poorly. This combination explains why overnight wear drives so many infections.
Lenses Dry Out and Tighten
Your eyes make fewer tears during sleep. Soft lenses lose water and tighten onto the eye. A dry lens clings to the cornea. Pulling the lens off a dry eye scrapes away surface cells.
Repeat Nights Make the Problem Worse
Night after night of low oxygen pushes your eye to grow new blood vessels into the clear cornea. Eye doctors call this corneal neovascularization. Long-term oxygen deprivation can contribute to corneal neovascularization.
This means that new blood vessels grow into the normally clear cornea. It may affect future contact lens wear and should be evaluated by an eye care professional.
Eye Problems Caused by Sleeping in Contact Lenses
Each condition below starts with the same trigger: a lens on a closed eye.
-
Microbial Keratitis
Microbial keratitis is an infection of the cornea from bacteria, fungi, or amoebas. CDC data estimated about 1 million outpatient and emergency department visits for keratitis of all types in the United States in 2010. Severe cases scar the cornea and cause permanent vision loss.
An eye infection from sleeping in contacts often starts with redness and pain in one eye. Treatment ranges from antibiotic drops to, in the worst cases, a corneal transplant.
-
Acanthamoeba Keratitis
Acanthamoeba lives in tap water, pools, and hot tubs. This amoeba causes a rare, painful infection with long, difficult treatment. Sleeping in lenses after water exposure raises the danger.
-
Corneal Ulcer
A corneal ulcer is an open sore on the cornea. In one CDC case, a teenage girl slept in lenses she bought at a chain drug store without a prescription. She developed a corneal ulcer, which left a permanent scar.
This case shows why a valid prescription and a proper fit matter.
-
Corneal Abrasion
A corneal abrasion is a scratch on the corneal surface. Dry lenses shift during sleep, and eye rubbing grinds the lens edge into the cornea. Forcing a stuck lens off a dry eye causes abrasions too.
-
Contact Lens Acute Red Eye (CLARE)
CLARE is a sudden, painful redness after overnight wear. Toxins from bacteria on the lens trigger inflammation in the cornea. CLARE differs from an infection, but the symptoms look alike, so an eye doctor needs to examine you.
Can You Sleep in Contacts Once?
One night does not guarantee an infection, but sleeping in contact lenses even occasionally increases the risk of a contact lens-related eye infection. The CDC counts accidental and occasional overnight wear in the six-to-eightfold increase.
Napping with contacts follows the same rule. A closed eyelid limits oxygen, whether you sleep 20 minutes or 8 hours. Take your lenses out before a nap, a long flight, or a movie on the couch.
Symptoms to Keep an Eye On
Mild dryness and slight redness often fade within a few hours after you remove the lenses. Watch for these signs over the next 24 to 48 hours:
- Red eyes after sleeping in contacts, lasting more than a few hours
- Eye pain or a sharp, gritty feeling
- Blurred or hazy vision
- Photophobia, or pain when you look at light
- Discharge or heavy tearing
- A white or gray spot on the cornea
See an eye doctor the same day if you notice pain, blurred vision, light sensitivity, or a white spot. Keep your lenses out until your doctor clears you.
Skip redness-relief drops. They hide symptoms your doctor needs to see. Bring your lenses and your lens case to the visit. Your doctor sometimes tests them to identify the germ.
What to Do If You Fell Asleep With Contacts In
Do not rip the lenses out. Dry contacts after sleeping cling to the cornea, and force causes scratches. Follow these steps for how to remove contacts after sleeping without harm.
- Wash your hands with soap and water. Dry them with a lint-free towel.
- Blink several times to restart tear flow.
- Use contact lens rewetting drops recommended for your lenses and allow the lens to move freely before gently removing it.
- Wait several minutes. Blink until the lens moves freely on your eye.
- Look up. Slide the lens down onto the white of your eye with your fingertip. Pinch the lens out.
- For a stuck contact lens after sleeping, close your eye and massage the upper lid gently. Add more drops and try again.
- Never use fingernails or tweezers on your eye.
- Call your eye doctor if the lens stays stuck or you fail to find the lens.
After you remove the lenses, take these steps:
- Throw away daily disposable lenses.
- Clean and disinfect two-week or monthly lenses with fresh solution. Replace the pair if your eyes still feel irritated.
- Dump the old solution from your case. Never top off used solution.
- Leave your contacts out while your eyes recover. If irritation, redness, pain, or vision changes continue, contact an eye care professional before wearing lenses again.
Contacts Approved for Overnight Wear
Extended wear contacts hold FDA approval for overnight wear. According to the FDA, extended wear lenses cover one to six nights or up to 30 days of continuous wear. Most use silicone hydrogel for higher oxygen flow.
|
Lens type |
Overnight approval |
Material |
| AIR OPTIX Night & Day AQUA (Alcon) | Up to 30 nights | Silicone hydrogel |
| Acuvue Oasys (Johnson & Johnson) | Up to 6 nights (7 days) | Silicone hydrogel |
| Biofinity (CooperVision) | Up to 6 nights (7 days) | Silicone hydrogel |
| Daily disposable lenses | None. Remove before sleep | Varies by brand |
| Ortho-K lenses | Night wear only. Reshapes the cornea | Rigid gas permeable |
Overnight approval does not mean overnight wear suits every eye. Alcon reports about 80% of wearers tolerate extended wear with AIR OPTIX Night & Day AQUA. About two-thirds reach the full 30 nights.
The CDC states sleeping in any type of contact lens raises infection risk, approved lenses included. The AOA and AAO notes the FDA recommends removing overnight-wear soft hydrogel lenses at least once a week for cleaning and disinfection.
Your eye doctor decides whether overnight wear fits your eyes. The decision follows a trial period and follow-up exams.
Sleeping in Daily Contacts
Daily disposable lenses carry approval for daytime wear only. You wear each pair once, remove the lenses before bed, and throw them away. The CDC notes daily disposables might lower infection risk when you discard them each day as directed.
How to Stop Falling Asleep in Your Contacts
Small changes to your routine prevent most accidental overnight wear.
- Keep a lens case, fresh solution, and your glasses on your nightstand.
- Set a phone reminder 30 minutes before bed.
- Remove your lenses before you lie on the couch or start a movie.
- Pack a travel case and a small bottle of solution for flights and road trips.
- Switch to daily disposables if you often doze off in lenses.
- Ask your eye doctor about overnight lenses such as those from Alcon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you sleep with contacts for one night without damage?
One night in contacts does not always cause lasting harm. One night still raises the risk of a corneal infection, according to CDC data on accidental and occasional overnight wear. Remove the lenses gently, wear glasses for a day, and watch for pain, blurred vision, or light sensitivity.
Is a short nap in contacts safe?
No. A closed eyelid cuts the oxygen supply to the cornea during sleep of any length. The lens also traps germs against the eye while blinking stops. Eye care experts advise removing contact lenses before every nap.
Should you throw away contacts after sleeping in them?
Throw away daily disposable lenses after any overnight wear. Clean and disinfect two-week or monthly lenses with fresh solution before your next wear. Replace any lens with a tear, and replace any pair causing redness or discomfort after reinsertion.
Do extended wear lenses remove the infection risk?
No. Extended wear lenses with FDA approval let more oxygen reach the cornea. The CDC still reports a higher infection risk with sleeping in any contact lens type. Only an eye doctor should prescribe overnight wear, and follow-up exams catch problems early.
How long does irritation last after sleeping in contacts?
Mild dryness and redness usually fade within a few hours of lens removal. Symptoms lasting past 24 hours need an eye exam. Pain, blurred vision, discharge, or light sensitivity at any point need same-day care, since contact lens infections worsen fast.
Do you need a prescription for contacts you wear overnight?
Yes. In the United States, every contact lens requires a valid prescription, including extended wear lenses. The FTC Contact Lens Rule requires sellers to verify your prescription before shipping. Prescriptions stay valid for one to two years, depending on your state.
Order Contact Lenses Online From Contact Lens Marketplace
Can you sleep with contacts? Your eye doctor gives the final word for your eyes. Once you have a prescription, we make ordering simple.
We ship brand-name lenses to addresses across the United States in five to seven business days. Shop contact lenses, upload your prescription, and our team verifies the details before your lenses ship.
