Sleeping in Contacts: One Man’s Painful Lesson
When 39-year-old Brian Groeschen woke up with a scratchy eye, he brushed it off as minor irritation. Days later, he sat in a Cincinnati Eye Institute chair, facing a serious diagnosis: a sight-threatening corneal ulcer.
Doctors found the infection was caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a dangerous bacterium that had thrived between Groeschen’s eye and the contact lens he’d slept in. Though his lenses were labeled safe for extended wear, experts say sleeping in any contacts increases infection risk significantly.
“We see the worst corneal ulcers in patients who wear lenses to bed,” said Dr. William Faulkner, Groeschen’s ophthalmologist. Contact lenses reduce oxygen flow and trap bacteria, making the eye vulnerable.