Viral internet headlines love to tease dramatic warnings like “These are the consequences of sleeping with…”—usually followed by a habit most of us are guilty of doing when we’re exhausted.
Depending on which social media rabbit hole you stumble down, those headlines usually target a few common bedtime habits. Here is what dermatologists, optometrists, and health experts actually say happens when you sleep with three of the most heavily debated nighttime no-nos:
1. Sleeping with Contact Lenses In
This is the one habit that eye doctors warn against most severely, and for good reason.
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The Reality: Your corneas need oxygen to stay healthy, and they absorb it directly from the air. When you close your eyes for sleep and cover them with contact lenses, you drastically cut off that oxygen supply (a condition called hypoxia).
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The Consequences: Without enough oxygen, your cornea swells slightly, making it much easier for bacteria, fungi, or amoebas to latch on and multiply. Sleeping in contacts dramatically multiplies your risk of painful corneal ulcers, severe eye infections, and permanent vision damage.
2. Sleeping with Makeup On
We’ve all had nights where we crawled into bed too tired to wash our face, but dermatologists call this a major skin sin.
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The Reality: Throughout the day, your skin collects pollution, free radicals, excess oil, and dirt. Layering makeup on top of that traps everything against your pores overnight.
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The Consequences: Skin cells naturally repair and shed while you sleep. Makeup blocks that process, leading to clogged pores, sudden breakouts, dullness, and accelerated collagen breakdown. Eye makeup left on overnight can also clog tiny oil glands along your lash line, resulting in painful styes or conjunctivitis.
3. Sleeping with Wet Hair
Grandmothers everywhere warned us that going to bed with wet hair would give us a cold, but the real damage happens to your strands and scalp.
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The Reality: Hair is at its weakest and most elastic state when it is wet. As you toss and turn on your pillow, the friction causes fragile, waterlogged hair to stretch, snap, and break easily.
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The Consequences: Trapping moisture against your scalp for hours creates a warm, dark, damp breeding ground for fungi, dandruff-causing yeast (like Malassezia), and scalp irritation. Over time, it can lead to an itchy, flaky, or inflamed scalp.
While slipping up on these habits once in a blue moon won’t ruin your life, making them a regular routine can take a toll on your skin, eyes, and hair health!
