EXTENDED WEAR CONTACTS
Extended wear soft contacts are very comfortable to wear and offer flexibility in the way you choose to wear your contacts. When choosing soft contacts you have the option of daily wear contacts (contacts you remove before sleeping) or extended wear contacts (contacts you can wear overnight). Extended wear contact lenses can be worn for longer periods of time than other types of contact lenses because they let more oxygen to pass thru the lens to the eye's cornea.
Contact lenses are either made as a daily wear lens or an extended wear lens, and receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a specific type of use. Some are approved for daily wear and some are approved for extended wear. When lenses are approved for extended wear, most of them receive FDA approval which states that they can be worn for up to seven days without removal. There has also recently been two brands that have received FDA approval for up to 30 days of continuous wear.
All soft contact lenses are made of a water-loving plastic materials that absorb liquids. Extended wear soft contact lenses are made to be very thin with a high water content. The water is what keeps the extended wear contacts soft and flexible so they form to the shape of the eye and it's the water that lets the oxygen reach the cornea even when they are worn for long periods of time.
Many of the infections associated with wearing extended wear contact lenses are due to improper cleaning and disinfecting. If you follow the contact lens wear and care instructions given to you by your eye doctor, you can reduce the chance of getting an infection from wearing extended wear lenses. It's important to always make sure your hands are clean before putting in or taking out your lenses and to use the proper sterile eye cleaning and storage solutions.
Perhaps the most important way to avoid any serious eye problems is to pay attention to your eyes. If you experience burning, redness, or irritation, or any unusual light sensitivity or blurry vision, many times simply cleaning your lens or putting on a fresh lens will be enough to help. But if there is no improvement, you should remove your contact lenses and visit your eye doctor.
THE NEW GENERATION
The newest extended wear contact lenses are FDA approved for continuous 30-day wear. They are made from new super-permeable silicone hydrogel materials. These new lenses are safer for 30-day wear because they let much more oxygen to reach the eye than other extended wear contact lenses. They also offer an alternative for those who are considering LASIK but want to consider other options that have similar benefits of laser vision correction, without having to go thru a surgical procedure or because they aren't good LASIK candidates.
EXTENDED WEAR CONTACTS FLEXIBILITY
Many people enjoy the ability to wear their extended wear contacts continuously for many days in a row. They enjoy the convenience of being able to put them in and not have to worry about removing them, cleaning them, or storing them every night.
Although contacts are made for extended wear, wearing contacts while sleeping can also increase the risk for infection and other complications. Extended wear contacts are more likely to cause eye infections than daily wear lenses. When wearing contacts while sleeping, the amount of oxygen that reaches the eye diminishes and any potentially dangerous germs that get lodged under the contact lens thrive better if the contact is not removed at night.
Some wearers of soft contact lenses choose extended wear contact lenses and still remove them daily, in order to have the option of wearing them overnight on an occasional basis. This works well for them because they can avoid the risk that can accompany sleeping in contacts, but at the same time they won't have to remove the contact lenses on occasions that might be inconvenient, such as for a nap or an overnight stay away from home.
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