Can you sleep in contact lenses? Not safely. Sleeping in lenses raises your risk of an eye infection six to eight times, whether you sleep a full night or doze for a short nap. Daily disposables are no exception, because they were never approved for overnight wear. Only a small group of lenses is approved by the FDA for sleeping, and only an eye doctor can prescribe them.
Monitor your eyes for the next one or two days. If you experience persistent redness, pain or sensitivity to light, it is not a part of recovery. Neither are blurry vision, discharge or tearing. Contact your ophthalmologist the very same day if you observe any of those symptoms. Don’t wait and see if they will get better by themselves. Infections of the cornea can develop fast and should be treated immediately.
This article covers why it matters, what applies to daily disposables and naps, what to do if you already dozed off, and how to stop it from happening again. We're a contact lens retailer, so we want you wearing your lenses the way they were designed to be worn.
Why sleeping in contact lenses is risky
Sleeping in lenses is dangerous since it reduces the amount of oxygen supplied to the cornea and provides bacteria with an ideal environment to thrive. Both issues start immediately you fall asleep, meaning that even cleaning the lenses properly will not solve the problem.
How a lens starves and dries your cornea
Dryness makes it worse. A lens that dries against the eye can stick, rub the cornea, and scratch it when you pull it out. Moving lids can also shift a lens or trap it in an odd position, especially if you rub your eyes in your sleep. A scratch hurts on its own, and it also opens the door to infection.
Infection risk, and one night versus a habit
The infection numbers are the main reason eye doctors say no.The CDC reports that sleeping in lenses raises the risk of infection by six to eight times with most lens types. The gravest outcome is microbial keratitis, a corneal infection capable of scarring the eye or causing permanent vision loss. Bacteria can develop a biofilm on a lens surface, and with a closed eye, they have hours to work. An open sore on the cornea, termed a corneal ulcer, may follow.
The same CDC survey found that about a third of the roughly 45 million lens wearers in the US admit to sleeping in them, so you are far from alone. One accidental night usually ends with a dry, sticky lens and an irritated eye. But "usually fine" is not "safe."
One night could bring about infection, and each instance brings with it more peril. People who sleep on a regular basis can also contract an oxygen deficiency problem that leads to the formation of new blood vessels in the cornea, sometimes with no initial warnings. If you have been wearing your contact lenses on a regular basis for months or years, get an eye examination done.
Any night in your lenses carries real infection risk, and that risk grows every time you repeat it.
Can you sleep or nap in daily disposable contacts?
No. Daily disposables are single-use lenses made for waking hours, so sleeping or napping in them goes against how they are approved. Every daily we sell, including Dailies Total 1, Acuvue Oasys 1-Day, Biotrue ONEday and Clariti 1 Day, is not approved for overnight or extended wear.
Why dailies are not an exception
In the opinion of many users, wearing a sterile lens is safer during sleep. That could not be further from the truth. The whole point of the daily lens is in getting a new pair of lenses each day,
which you throw out every night. When you wear your lenses for more than twenty hours, there are bacteria and deposits that settle on it, taking away the cleanliness advantage that you paid for.
Naps and short rests
The same rule applies to daytime sleeping time. Even a brief nap makes you susceptible to dryness, irritation, and infections – whether you take a twenty-minute nap, an hour’s nap, or a two-hour nap, wearing contact lenses when taking a nap exposes you to risks.
Less time might be less harsh compared to a whole night, but no time period has ever been identified as safe, and missing out on a single day’s use takes about thirty seconds. If there is any chance you will drift off, take the lenses out first.
Which lenses are made for sleeping
Only a few lens types are designed for sleep, and each needs an eye doctor's prescription and follow-up.
| Lens type | Sleep in them? | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Daily disposable | No | Single-use. Discard at the end of the day and never reuse. |
| Two-week or monthly, daily wear | No | Remove every night unless your doctor prescribed them for extended wear. |
| FDA-approved extended or continuous wear | Only if prescribed | Approved for up to 7 nights (extended) or 30 nights (continuous). You still remove and clean them periodically. |
| Orthokeratology (ortho-K) | Yes, by design | Rigid gas permeable lenses that reshape the cornea overnight. Prescribed and supervised. |
| Colored or cosmetic | No | Still need a prescription and still come out at night. |
| Air Optix Night & Day Aqua | Only if prescribed | FDA-approved for daily wear and up to 30 nights of continuous wear, as prescribed by an eye care professional. Not everyone can wear it for 30 nights. |
Since lenses that are approved for overnight wear have a higher chance of infection, the FDA categorizes such lenses as Class 3 medical devices, which is the highest risk class.
The Air Optix Night & Day Aqua lens that we offer has been approved for daily wear and up to 30 nights of continuous wear on prescription by an eye-care provider.
It is not safe for everyone to wear this lens for thirty nights; complications are more likely in extended wear compared to daily wear. So follow the advice of your eye doctor regarding the wearing schedule.
If the box of your lens does not state its approval for overnight wear and if your eye doctor has not advised you to wear it overnight, then take it out.
If your lens box does not say it is approved for overnight wear, and your eye doctor has not told you to sleep in it, take it out.
What to do if you fell asleep with contacts in
If you wake up with lenses in, stay calm and don't pull at them. Lubricate your eyes, remove the lenses gently, skip contacts for the rest of the day, and watch for symptoms.
Steps to take right away
A dried lens grips the eye, so patience protects your cornea. Work through these in order:
- Wash and dry your hands thoroughly.
- Add rewetting drops or contact solution, blink several times, and gently massage your closed lid to get moisture moving.
- Nudge the lens off the cornea and slide it out. If it still resists, add more drops and wait a minute.
- Throw away a daily disposable that you slept in. For a reusable lens, ask your eye doctor whether to discard it too.
- Wear glasses for the rest of the day so the cornea can recover.
If a lens will not budge after several tries, stop and call your eye doctor rather than prying at it.
Symptoms that mean you should call an eye doctor
Monitor your eyes for the next one or two days. If you experience persistent redness, pain or sensitivity to light, it is not a part of recovery. Neither are blurry vision, discharge or tearing.
Contact your ophthalmologist the very same day if you observe any of those symptoms. Don’t wait and see if they will get better by themselves. Infections of the cornea can develop fast and should be treated immediately.\
After a night in your lenses, a sore or red eye that is not improving within hours needs a professional, not more waiting.
How to stop falling asleep in your contacts
You stop it by making lens removal automatic and by planning for the situations where you tend to doze off. Most accidents come from a tired evening, not from a decision.
Make removal the easy default
Daily contact lenses make this simpler because there is no case or solution to fuss with. You take them out and bin them. A few habits help:
- Remove lenses always at one same point in the evening, before settling down in the couch or in bed.
- Keep a pair of glasses handy where you usually doze off.
- Use rewetting drops by keeping them on your night stand so that removal of lenses is not a problem.
- .Place a phone reminder for those late evenings.
Plan for late nights and long days
Long hours, long flights, and long journeys are among the most frequent causes. Before you go, make sure you pack some spare glasses, rewetting solutions, and a travel pack.
In the case that you need to sleep in lenses and your way of life demands it, discuss with your optometrist about extended wear or Ortho-K lenses rather than making a compromise with daily wear lenses.
The best protection against sleeping in contacts is a removal habit tied to a fixed moment in your evening.
The short answer on sleeping in contacts
Contact lenses are not to be worn while sleeping, including naps and daily disposable types. A closed eye will restrict oxygen supply to the cornea, while the lens will act as a cover, allowing the microorganisms to attack the cornea. Prescribed extended-wear and orthokeratology contacts only can be used during sleep. In case you forget, lubricate and remove the lenses and rest your eyes.
