What is risk of wearing disposable contact lens a little longer than you ought to?

Question

I wear 30 day disposable contact lens and I'm trying to stretch the life a bit and save some $. I NEVER sleep in my contacts and take good care of them. What are the risks of extending the life a short bit? As of today, I should've changed the lenses a week ago

Answer 1

Maybe you should just go for some glasses. You don't have any risks there. If it fell onto the ground, you got to change it. Those germs could eat your eyeballs! And i'm not joking!

Answer 2

Haha, at least you are honest about it.  The truth is, the vast majority of people overwear their contact lenses.  Wearing them a few days to a week past their expiration date is "ok."  The key to contact lenses is proper care, listen to your doctor's recommendations and follow it as closely as possible.  That is the most important thing you can do decrease the chance of problems (infection) and increase the life of your lenses.

I like to use this analogy with patients and it seems to help answer this question.  Wearing your contact lenses longer than you should is like procrastinating on getting your oil changed.  95% of the time, nothing will happen, however, overtime this will wear down you eyes just like it will wear down your car and eventually you will run into a problem.  Problem is, you can get a new car but you only have two eyes.  Hope this has helped, take care.

Answer 3

A week or so will probably be acceptable if you take good care of your lenses. But never 2 weeks. As a rule of thumb never stretch it to 1.5 times the indicated duration. But if you have complications (itching, does not stick well, falls out, gets stuck in the side.) Replace IMMEDIATELY.