Recovery of corneal sensation following hard contact lens wear and the implication for adaptation.

Recovery of corneal sensitivity was determined in hard contact lens wearers 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hr after removing the lenses. The extent of recovery was shown by the statistical similarity of the threshold values for the contact lens group and the thresholds of a group of subjects who had never worn contact lenses. Consideration of the time course of recovery and of the thermal modality of the stimulus suggest that the sensory decrement induced by contact lens wear cannot be attributed to simple adaptation.