Quote: (05-17-2011 09:17 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:
I havent taken my contacts out when I sleep for almost 5 years now. I wear the bastards for a few months at a time as well. I'm very comfortable saying all the scare stories about "how bad it is to do these things" that optometrists give you is all bullshit to get them to sell you more contacts or more expensively glasses.
I also dont tell the eye doctors this and never have they commented on my vision getting worse, its been stable for the duration of me doing this.
Your vision won't get worse because that's dictated by the shape of your eye and whether it's too short or too long to focus light properly, not whether your eyes are in good health. If you're leaving your contacts in and they're not the kind you're supposed to leave in there is an elevated risk of getting an infection or an abrasion from the contact scratching your cornea (the latter happened to me--not fun). One of the reasons I want to get laser surgery done is because the risks associated with the surgery are significantly less than the risks that go along with simply wearing contacts on a daily basis for many years.
Not having anything happen in 5 years doesn't mean anything, the incidence of the most common infections is between 1 and 20 per 1000 people per year so even if you're at an elevated risk that doesn't prove anything except that you've gotten lucky so far. If you want to leave your contacts in for long periods of time they make varieties that are designed to be worn continuously for up to a month.