UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

What is the maximum wear time for rgps? Yesterday I wore mine for 10 hours with no discomfort , I could have worn them for longer.
How long can you wear yours for? And is there any guidelines for max wear time or do you just wear them as long as they feel comfy?

Donna,

Different optoms have different opinions as do the patients.

Mine say a max of 8 hours say it is an individual thing. It took me about a year to ersuade my optoms i was OK going longer, they upped the frequenxcy of my check ups to ensure 12 hours was not causing me damage. Now I go a regular 12 hours but have a break at least once per week where I use the protein cleaner.

Problem with over wearing, it is not jst a case of a one off wearing for a long time, but can also be an accumulative effect.

If I need to go more than 12 hours, I wear one lens at a time, so theoretically I could go 24 hours! However as you get tierd, then the lens comfort decreases.

It is surprising easy to teach the brain to uses one eye and then switch to the other when it has vision. It took me about 3 months. So the few occasions I have a lens problem, I can still manage as it rarely affects both eyes.

At your next visit, ask your optom, becasue the last thing you want to do is inadvertantly cause damage by over wearing lenses.

My optom told me i should be able to wear them for 10 hours, I thought I had read it somewhere that 8 hours is the advisable max wear time. He said that as they are an excellent fit I should manage 10 hours no problem, I dont want to damage my eyes though.

How do you manage to drive? Do you only drive with both lenses in or are you at driving standard with one lens in?

I built mine up gradually to 8 hours. I then wore them up to 8 hours a day for a few weeks before I was advised I could go up to 12 hours. My optom said I could exceed the 12 hours from time to time if it was necessary but basically listen to your eyes to ensure they are not damaged through over use.
I find that I can manage to drive through the day on one lens and that my brain can switch eyes OK.
(This was all pre-hayfever season however...)

16 hours

Until there is definitive proof/evidence which shows that the wearing of contact lenses does not exacerbate KC I would say only wear them when you have to.

That advice is based on my own personal research and also information I have read on this excellent self help forum.

Take care Donna.

I do not disagree with Steven, but I did occasionally pull 16 or even a 20 hour shift with RGP's. I always gave my eyes a rest after these very long sessions.

Did my tendency to over-wear my lenses lead to my need for surgery? Maybe the Jury will always be out on that. Do I reccomend long wear time? Absolutely NOT. But, maybe, I do think that when circumstances we cannot control do lead to excessive wear-times, we should not panic too much about it.

Andrew

I wear my lens all day every day, always have, I've never viewed 16 hrs as extended wear. We need 6-8 hours break each day for sure, but if eyes can tolerate it then why not?
I don't believe so-called over wear causes a deterioration in KC, mind you it depends on what is meant by over wear. To me over wear would mean wearing them when they hurt or not getting 6-8 hours break each day.

My lenses do feel comfy enough to wear all day, my eyes also feel ok the next morning. I suppose we are all different and our eyes can tolerate different wear times.