Do you ever sleep in your contact lenses? 

An eye doctor is sharing a few photos to show you why you should not sleep in your soft contact lenses. 

In a Facebook post, Vita Eye Clinic posted photos showing up-close-and-personal pictures of an infected eye of a person who had to get treatment from urgent care. 

The person was diagnosed with cultured pseudomonas ulcer, which is “the direct result of sleeping in contact lenses.”

In the photos, the eye appears green due to a fluorescent dye that ends up pooling “in areas of corneal compromise, in this case, the ulcer bed,” the doctor said. 

Bacteria from pseudomonas can lead to a host of eye diseases and even permanent blindness, according to the eye clinic. 

In this case, the doctor said it took only about 36 hours for this infection to form.

“This will be the 4th case of cultured pseudomonas that I’ve treated in my clinic,” the post goes on to read. 

“The bacteria explosively eats away at the patients cornea in a matter of days leaving a soupy, white necrosis (dead tissue) in its wake. I was able to start this patient on fortified antibiotic drops around the clock and recently steroids to reduce permanent scarring,” the doctor said. 

The doctor said while the person’s eye does show signs of improvement, “she will very likely exhibit some form of residual vision less even after treatment.”

So if you’re feeling very tired after a long day, remember that it only takes seconds to remove your contacts. 

“The risks outweigh the benefits every time. It takes seconds to remove your contacts but a potential lifetime of irreversible damage if you choose to leave them in. People need to see these images and remind themselves/family/friends to also be aware of contact lens misuse,” the doctor said. 

Doctors say contacts for overnight use should be prescribed, but it is not recommended unless the person has specific “medical or functional needs.”