Bacteria eats into US woman's cornea after she sleeps with contact lenses

If you have a habit of not taking out your contact lenses before a nap, you may want to reconsider. 

A Facebook post from a North Carolina-based eye clinic went viral after a doctor shared what happened to his patient's cornea after she failed to remove their contact lenses before sleeping.

The pictures show a huge bacterial mass floating over the cornea of the eye, stained yellow by a dye used by the doctor.

Photos from the post are not for the weak-hearted. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/VitaEyeClinic/posts/2330026863723870?__tn__=-R[/embed]

Since it was uploaded on April 29, the post has garnered over 300,000 shares and 200,000 comments at the time of writing.

The clinic shared that many patients claim to have no problems when they sleep with contact lenses. In reality, those who wear contacts in their sleep may face the risk of getting a bacterial infection which eats away at the cornea. Patients may also face permanent blindness in the eye.

They explained that infections like these do not form over a few months, but in this case, happened over a period as short as 36 hours.

In a comment below the post, the clinic added that the patient was brought into the clinic with a 'small ulcer' but by the next day, it had become massive, with her vision 'reduced to light perception only'. Luckily, her condition has since improved as she received urgent care and was put on antibiotics. 

While the clinic admits to using the photos as a scare tactic, their important message is for contact lens users to stop sleeping in their contacts.

"It takes seconds to remove your contacts but a potential lifetime of irreversible damage if you choose to leave them in."

And it seems that the message has gotten through to those who have the nasty habit. 

Users also shared their painful lessons from sleeping with contacts, warning others to take their contact lens hygiene seriously. 

Ouch, a painful lesson indeed. 

kimberlyfoo@asiaone.com