How Long Can You Safely Wear Contact Lens?

There are many advantages of wearing contact lenses. They improve your viewing ease and provide better eye comfort. They provide wider visual access and a sense of normalcy. Besides, they make excellent choices if you don’t like to wear glasses. However, they come with their own caveats against these advantages. This includes choosing the highest quality silicone hydrogel contact lenses, wearing them properly and taking care of them. As long as you take care of certain points, you can enjoy all the benefits that come with wearing your contacts.

How Long Should You Wear Your Contacts?

You can wear your contacts for 8 to 16 hours a day. The duration for wearing contact lens will depend on your eye health if you have eye sensitivity or dry eyes, and how effectively your eyes can tolerate contact lenses.

·         If you have sensitive eyes, you should change your contacts much earlier – even before the 8 hours are complete

·         If you work long hours, again your lenses should be replaced faster

Your eye a specialist can tell you exactly how long you can wear your contacts by assessing your situation.

Contact Lens Noncompliance

Contact lens noncompliance is quite common among users. According to the CDC, around 70% of contact lens users don’t handle their lenses with clean hands. Many don’t even bother to stick to the guidelines on how long a disposable contact lens can be worn.

·         You should always ask your optometrist and check the manufacturer recommendations for maximum wear time

·         8 to 16 hours is considered a healthy average wear time

·         Besides other factors mentioned above, the weather patterns also affect wear time

·         Always remove the contacts if there is eye redness, irritation, or swelling

·         If you cannot wear the lenses comfortably for a full day, you should see your eye doctor

·         Never sleep with your contact lenses because they increase the risk of corneal infection

Need for Oxygen Permeability

When you wear lenses for long, the corneas can get a lesser amount of oxygen. This increases the chances of corneas becoming vulnerable to bacteria. Keratitis is a condition that is caused by microbes that affect the corneas. It is important to know that the corneas do not have the power to replenish on their own. So, you should not over wear your contact lenses.

The biggest challenges to increasing the wear time of contact lenses have been the following factors:

·         Increasing oxygen permissibility

·         Lower modulus

·         Improve surface biocompatibility

Oxygen permissibility is measured in terms of Dk/t. The minimum required Dk/t is 87x10-9 to prevent corneal damage. But the softest lens with the highest oxygen permissibility has had not been able to achieve this mark. This was when a unique combination of silicone and hydrogel was created to overcome this challenge.

Both silicone and hydrogel had their own unique challenges, making it difficult to create contact lenses that can be worn for longer. The creation of silicone and hydrogel materials became the ideal solution. While the silicon part in the material provided the high level of oxygen permeability, the hydrogel part ensured that the lens and the cornea remained wet.

Daily Disposable &Daily Wear Contact Lenses

As a simple rule, you should not use daily disposable and daily wear lenses interchangeably. Both are made of slightly different materials with different properties. Daily disposable contact lens should not be reused. They should be discarded after every time you wear them.

When you wear your daily disposable contacts for more than once, your eyes will be at the risk of developing dryness and discomfort. It can also increase the risk of serious infections. According to a study, 95% of contact users who kept their daily disposable lenses in the solution overnight had contamination. Staph bacteria were found to be the most common microbe that caused various infections including pink eye.

Daily disposable and daily wear contact lenses are usually packed in sterilized containers filled with fluid. The fluid has an expiration date that is printed on the label. Once expired, you should not use the fluid because it can get contaminated with germs.

Contact lenses are medical devices approved by the FDA. They are regularly tested for their effectiveness and safety when used as per the manufacturer’s directions. So, the best advice about wearing a contact lens is to always stick to the manufacturer's instructions.

Safety Tips for Your Contact Lenses

Now that you know how long you can safely wear your contacts, you should follow a number of safety tips to keep your eyes healthy. Contacts are designed for convenience and are easy to use only when you follow all the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Follow these tips to reduce your risk of infection:

·         Make sure to wash your hands with soap and dry them before handling your contacts

·         If you have reusable lenses, make sure to clean, rinse, and disinfect them every time they are removed

·         Use only manufacturer-instructed solution. Water is never suited for contact lens cleaning.

·         Disposable or silicone hydrogel daily contacts should never be worn while sleeping.

·         Make sure the lens storage case is also regularly cleaned and replaced.

Contact lenses offer many advantages but you should not wear them longer than what is recommended here. It is best to follow a schedule that allows your eyes to get proper rest. Remember the eyes also need rest similar to other organs.

If your contact lenses have expired, they should not be worn no matter whether you have not used them ever. If you have any kind of eye discomfort, irritation, or infection, you should immediately see your eye doctor.

When it comes to your contact lenses, you should choose contacts made of the highest-quality materials. Miacare has developed state-of-the-art silicone hydrogel contact lenses that provide optimal comfort, are soft, and ensure excellent oxygen permissibility. You can choose just the right type of contacts that are perfect for your eye condition. So, make sure to follow the tips mentioned here and select only the highest quality and safest contact lens brand for your eyes.


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