Sleeping With Contacts in Is Bad: 21-Year-old Man Lost His Vision Due to Flesh-eating Bacterial Infection

After sleeping with his contact lens in, the 21-year-old man from Florida lost his left-eye vision. He developed a flesh-eating bacterial infection that caused his permanent vision loss.

Florida Man Lost His Vision From Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Michael Krumholz is a sports management student from Lake Worth, near Miami. Krumholz had been wearing Acuvue Oasys daily contact lenses for two to three years even before getting infected.

On December 19, he had a 40-minute nap and when he woke up his eyes began to feel uncomfortable. He told the Daily Star that his contact lens felt irritated like they were floating in his eye.

He took them out and saw nothing wrong. But the next day, he went to play baseball and felt he had to take his contacts off immediately after feeling discomfort. Krumholz then told his parents that he need to see an eye doctor. Initially, he thought he only had pink eye, but the doctor thinks otherwise.

Doctors diagnosed him with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which people can catch by touching a cold sore and then rubbing their eyes. However, the prescribed antibiotics for him did not work and every day his eye got worse and worse. But five ophthalmologists and two cornea specialists found that the young man tested positive for acanthamoeba keratitis (AK).

The uncommon flesh-eating bacterial infection that hit him often results in permanent and substantial visual loss. But as per MailOnline, the bacteria are often harmless and widespread. They are found in streams, seas, and soils as well as in drinking water, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.

They can cause an infection of the eyes by entering through micro-tears and scratches. Contact lens wearers account for 80% of cases of rare bacterial infection of which one to two cases per a million people every year are reported.

For now, Krumholz can no longer see out of his left eye except for the black and gray flashing lights. Doctors say that he might be able to get 10% of his vision back through a corneal transplant. But due to this infection, he is forced to give up his job and hobbies, such as socializing with friends, baseball, and working out at the gym.

Why Sleeping With Contacts Is Bad

According to Sleep Foundation, it is unsafe to sleep while wearing contact lenses. Specialists said that it increases the chance of corneal infection, like bacterial keratitis, acanthamoeba keratitis, and fungal keratitis.

There is danger regardless of whether the senses are soft, hard, ornamental, or prescription. Unfortunately, sleeping with contacts is quite common in both teenagers and adults.

Occasionally or unintentionally sleeping in with contacts might potentially raise the risk of infection. Experts even advise avoiding sleeping in lenses designed for overnight or extended usage.

The chances of getting an eye infection skyrocket when sleeping with contacts in. These infections can cause irreversible corneal damage and visual loss in severe situations.