Forget to take off contact lenses when sleeping, eyeballs turn white and you may go blind! What should you pay attention to when wearing contact lenses?

Recently, a 23-year-old man in Jinan, Shandong forgot to take off his contact lenses on his wedding night. When he woke up the next day, he found that he could not see with one eye. He finally had to undergo a corneal transplant to save his eye.

According to the doctor's diagnosis, the man was busy with the wedding and not only did he not take off his contact lenses, but also did not maintain good hand hygiene, which led to a serious corneal infection.

Many netizens were scared after seeing the news and said they would not dare to wear contact lenses in the future. Some netizens thought it was not that serious and that they forgot to take off their contact lenses when sleeping a few times and it was okay.

Source: Internet So, is it really that harmful if you don't take off your contact lenses at night? What should we pay attention to when wearing contact lenses? Let's take a look~

Contact lenses - an obstacle to oxygen uptake by the eyes

Contact lenses are also called corneal contact lenses. When worn, they cover the black part of our eyeball (cornea). The metabolism of the black part of the eyeball requires oxygen, 80% of which needs to be obtained from the air. The contact lenses covering the surface of the eyeball are like a barrier, isolating the contact between the black part of the eyeball and oxygen, affecting metabolism.

Source: Photo Network

In addition, contact lenses also absorb moisture and bacteria. So in order to wear comfortably, contact lenses need to be kept moist, so they absorb moisture from our eyes and also capture bacteria, so it is very important to remove contact lenses regularly for cleaning.

Source: Photo Network

Therefore, it is generally recommended that the wearing time should not exceed eight hours, otherwise it is easy to cause corneal hypoxia, such as foreign body sensation, itching, dryness, etc. in the eyes.

Not taking off your contact lenses when sleeping at night is more likely to cause corneal hypoxia

When you sleep at night, your eyes are closed, and wearing contact lenses is more likely to cause corneal hypoxia.

A study published in the U.S. Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report pointed out that wearing contact lenses overnight can increase the risk of keratitis by 20 times. In a morbidity and mortality research report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also emphasized that wearing contact lenses to sleep may cause corneal damage and even blindness. News about corneal diseases caused by wearing contact lenses to sleep is not uncommon. Beijing Youth Daily once reported a case in which an American man was found to be blind in his left eye because he liked to wear contact lenses and often wore them to sleep for convenience. According to Yuhang News Network, a 21-year-old girl often wore contact lenses overnight. At first, she did not feel uncomfortable wearing them overnight, until she developed symptoms of fear of light, constant tears, and pain that made her unable to open her eyes. The doctor found corneal damage, which was caused by long-term wear and lack of hygiene.

Source: Photo Network

Most of these complications caused by corneal hypoxia are irreversible! So we still have to cherish our corneas, don’t wear contact lenses to sleep at night, wear them no more than 8 hours a day, and stop for 1-2 days a week.

What should we pay attention to when wearing contact lenses?

In addition to not wearing contacts for too long, not paying attention to hygiene when using them and wearing contact lenses in inappropriate scenarios are also major factors causing eye discomfort.

A survey conducted by some scholars on contact lens wearers found that it is very common to not wash hands before removing or wearing contact lenses, not use special care solution when cleaning or caring for lenses, and not clean lenses in a standardized manner. If hygiene is not in place, bacteria can easily contaminate the lenses, which in turn can damage our corneas. Therefore, when we wear contact lenses in daily life, we need to pay attention to the following:

1. When wearing contact lenses, cut your nails short, wash your hands with soap and dry them to avoid damaging the lenses and breeding bacteria; carefully check whether the lenses are damaged, have dirt or sediment. If damaged, do not wear them. If there are stains and sediment, clean them before wearing; distinguish the front and back of the lenses, wear them with the front side facing up, do not extend the time of lens replacement at will, and try to choose lenses with shorter cycles such as daily disposable and monthly disposable; if you wear makeup, you should wear contact lenses before putting on makeup, and remove contact lenses before removing makeup, and do not let cosmetics adhere to the lens surface.

Source: Photo Network

2. Rub the front and back of the lens for 10 seconds each, rinse the front and back for 5 seconds each, and soak for at least 4 hours; clean the lenses regularly, rinse the lens case every day, and disinfect the lens case once a week. The lens case should be replaced no more than 3 months at most; after opening the bottle of care solution, the lid should be closed in time, and do not touch the bottle mouth with your fingers. If it is not used up in time within the specified time, it cannot be used again, and new care solution should be replaced. In addition, it is not recommended to wear contact lenses in some special scenarios:

1. Do not wear it when engaging in high-intensity exercise

It is not recommended to wear contact lenses when playing sports that involve strong confrontation or physical contact, such as basketball. If your face is accidentally hit during exercise, your contact lenses may fall off, causing unnecessary trouble.

Source: Photo Network

2. Do not wear it when bathing, swimming, soaking in hot springs, etc.

Contact lenses have adsorption properties, which can easily cause pathogenic microorganisms in water to deposit on the lenses. Moreover, eyes that wear contact lenses for a long time have relatively weak resistance to pathogenic microorganisms and are easily infected by various pathogenic microorganisms.

3. Don’t wear it on foggy days

The eyeball itself can wash away the dust particles in the haze by blinking and secreting tears. However, when wearing contact lenses, the lenses will block the flow of tears and the debris cannot be effectively cleaned. At this time, the density of fine particles and bacteria in haze weather increases, and contact lenses are prone to adsorb these pollutants, which will aggravate the hypoxia of the eyeball and easily cause corneal edema, and the clarity and transparency of vision will be significantly reduced. Therefore, try to avoid wearing contact lenses on haze days.

4. Do not wear it when riding in a vehicle with open windows or on an airplane.

When riding in a vehicle with windows open, the surrounding air convection can cause excessive evaporation of moisture from the lenses; when riding in an airplane, the air in the cabin is dry; both of these can cause the thin lenses of the glasses to harden and cause discomfort in the eyes.

Source: Photo Network

5. Do not wear it during special periods such as menstruation and pregnancy

Before and during menstruation, intraocular pressure will be higher than usual, and the area around the eyeball will be more prone to congestion. Especially for women with dysmenorrhea, wearing contact lenses will have adverse effects on the eyeball. Source: Shangguan News, Ruijin Hospital

Digital Beijing Science Center, Beijing Youth Daily, CCTV Finance, etc.

Compiled by: Dang Min

Editor: Guru