Add your practice details to brand this guide and generate a shareable link for your patients. Your info is saved on this computer only.
Educational content only
This page is general patient education, not medical advice. It does not diagnose conditions, recommend specific treatments for you, or replace a conversation with your eye care provider. Always consult a qualified clinician before making decisions about your eye health.
Some lenses are FDA-approved for overnight wear. None are risk-free. Sleeping in contacts increases your risk of corneal infection 6 to 15 times — sometimes leading to permanent vision loss. The 2018 CDC report makes the case for daily removal.
Best practices
If you do this — here's how to do it safely.
First choice
Daily disposables, removed nightly
Daily disposable lenses worn during waking hours and discarded at bedtime represent the lowest-infection-risk contact lens regimen available. The CDC and most cornea specialists recommend this as default.
If you must
FDA-approved EW lenses only
Only lenses specifically labeled for extended wear should ever be slept in. Read the package. 'Sleeping in your regular contacts because they're flexible' is the most common error in CDC's case reports.
Schedule
Mandatory nightly nights off
Even with extended-wear lenses, plan at least one night per week without lenses to give the cornea recovery time. After the approved continuous-wear period (6 nights or 30 days), remove lenses for a full night before restarting.
Monitor
More frequent eye exams
Extended-wear patients need exams every 3-6 months — not annually. Subtle corneal changes can develop quickly, and catching them early prevents serious complications.
Same-day emergency if
You wake up with redness, pain, light sensitivity, blurry vision, or discharge after sleeping in contacts. Remove the lens immediately, do NOT put it back in, and see an eye doctor or urgent care that same day. Microbial keratitis can progress to vision-threatening damage within 24-48 hours.
Common questions
Honest answers to common questions.
If FDA-approved, why is it still risky?+
FDA approval certifies a lens material allows enough oxygen and tested safely under controlled conditions. It doesn't eliminate biological risks — bacteria still grow on the lens during sleep, tear flow drops, and infection risk rises. Even with the best lens material, sleeping in contacts is meaningfully riskier than removing them.
How bad can an infection get?+
At worst: permanent corneal scarring, vision loss, sometimes corneal transplant. CDC documented 6 cases of severe sleeping-in-contacts infections from 2016-2018, all causing significant damage. These outcomes are uncommon — but they happen often enough that cornea specialists routinely see them.
What about ortho-K — that's overnight too?+
Ortho-K lenses are rigid gas-permeable, fitted specifically to reshape the cornea overnight. They have a different risk profile and are intentionally designed for overnight wear under specific protocols, including careful hygiene and regular monitoring. Talk to your eye doctor — they're a different category.
I've slept in my regular contacts for years. Should I be worried?+
Many people get away with it for a long time, then have a bad night. The risk is cumulative, not consistent. Switching to daily disposables (or to removing your current lenses nightly) eliminates most of the risk going forward, regardless of past behavior.
What if I fall asleep accidentally?+
Don't panic. Remove the lenses as soon as you wake up. If your eyes feel fine — no pain, no redness, normal vision — you're likely OK this time. If anything seems off, leave the lenses out and have an eye exam that day.