Almost all contact lenses are made to wear during the day and remove at night. The reason you need to take them out after a while is because your cornea needs oxygen. To put it another way, your eyes really need a break from contacts.
There are some contact lens wearers that don’t like to have to remove their lenses when the day is through. Contact lens manufacturers know this, so they have been trying for a long time to develop a material to create contact lenses that would allow oxygen to get to the cornea, so people would be able to wear them for days at a time.
There have been advancements in technology that have allowed for lenses to be made that allow at least 6 times more oxygen through than normal contact lenses. These extended wear lenses are being made of silicone materials that are made specially to “breathe”, so there is oxygen available to get to the cornea and you can wear them for days at a time.
The lenses that have been approved to wear for several days at a time, like Acuvue 2 or Focus Night and Day, are perfect if you follow your doctor’s instructions. You can wear them for several days at a time without any adverse effects, unless your eyes are sensitive, that is.
The one problem with wearing contact lenses for a long time is that they can get dirty since you aren’t able to clean them every day.
If you start feeling any type of symptoms that are out of the ordinary, don’t ignore it because you could develop a serious eye infection. As soon as you feel any symptoms like burning or irritation, take the contacts out for at least six hours and let your eyes rest. Be sure to clean them well before you reinsert them. If the discomfort is still occurring, you need to take them out and see your doctor. It could be that you aren’t a good candidate for long-wear lenses.
Because they are intended to last longer, extended wear contacts are generally a little more expensive than the disposable kind. You can make this slight difference up in the amount of cleaning solution you will be saving on each month. The cost is pretty much the same when you think about these factors.
So if you think you would rather wear your contacts for longer amounts of time, talk to your doctor about extended wear contacts and see if they are right for you.
Now, Dylan has written other articles on contacts. Be sure to check out either proclear contact lenses or sclera contact lenses!