Effect of the length of wear of contact lenses on corneal sensitivity.

Corneal touch thresholds (CTT) were determined once in the morning before inserting contact lenses then after 4, 8 and 12 h of continuous wear. Two groups of subjects participated in this study; 12 persons wearing hard contact lenses and 15 wearing soft contact lenses. All subjects were perfectly adapted to their contact lenses and had worn them for not less than three months. It was found that hard contact lenses caused a progressive diminution of corneal sensitivity. After 12 h corneal sensitivity was, on average, 110% lower (that is an increase of the threshold) than in the morning. Soft lenses also caused a progressive reduction of corneal sensitivity which after 12 h wear was, on average, 45% lower than in the morning, although there were marked differences. Moreover, 9 of the hard contact lens subjects had been tested a year earlier and it was found that their CTT after 8 h wear had slightly but not significantly diminished which indicated that these subjects had not adapted significantly to their lenses in one year.