A question regarding continuous wear contact lenses?

I have been wearing continuous wear lenses for a couple of years now, and have always been told that as long as they are changed every 30 days that they are ok to leave in all the time, I have also been told that if I need to clean them, that an all in one cleaning solution is fine, and have been told to remove them when swimming, but its ok to keep them in when having a bath.

but today I had a contact lens check up with a new optician (the same opticians I belong to, but a person i haven't seen before), now she said I was using the wrong lotion, i shouldn't wear my lenses in the bath, and instead of changing my lenses every 30 days, i should have one contact lens free day before putting in my new pair!

My question is this, if I have been wearing my lenses as the previous optician advised (with no problems) should I just carry on as I am. or should I do as the new one says?
Additional Details
womenagainststirrups - the lenses I have are meant to be worn for 30 days without needing to change them, they are "continuous wear" lenses.

I have worn mine irresponsibly for 22 years now, with no problems. However, that is not my advice. because i do in fact worry about long term problems. I just wanted to ease your mind a bit. But again, get in the habit of taking them out. You'll have peace of mind then.

my eye dr said that you shouldn't wear your lenses more than 10 hours a day. Your eyes need rest you know. Then you can put your glasses on instead.

All I can say is that I saw Richard and Judy a few weeks ago and the "expert " on there was saying about loads of people who get very serious eye infections by wearing them continously and one particular infection is very very hard to treat and it causes people to lose their eye sight. He recommended the ones which are only used for one day.
EDIT I found this little snippet.
More and more contact lens users are getting an allergic reaction to their lenses because they're leaving them in too long. The pimple-like reaction called Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis. . . comes from a build-up of protein on the lens.

Dallas experts recommend changing your contacts frequently . . . or selecting lenses with low-water composition.

If you do get an allergic reaction, doctors recommend drug therapy and changing lenses.

--------------------------------------...

Even if you are wearing continuous wear contact lenses (like the Ciba Nite & Day lenses) it still is a good idea to give your eyes a break from contact lenses several times a month. While the lenses are approved for 30 days and nights, they still do impede the flow of oxygen to your cornea, although not as much as some other types of contact lenses.

Just because you are not currently experiencing any problems with your eyes, doesn't mean that you couldn't possibly develope complications down the road. Most complications from over-wearing contact lenses don't happen overnight and when they do present themselves, it is the result of long-term abuse or overwearing. Corneal neovascularization, for example, can happen over the course of months and even years of oxygen deprivation of the corneal. When the cornea does not get the oxygen it needs, blood vessels begin grown across to try to deliver it and those blood vessels will obstruct your vision. They do recede after weeks or months of not wearing contact lenses, but this is a condition that can take several years to develope.

There are several other types of complications that can arise from not ever taking contact lenses out; corneal ulcers, infection, and GPC (giant papillary conjunctivitis, which is an imflammation of the papillaries which causes itchy, uncomfortable bumps under the upper eye lids that seem to snag the contact lens with each blink and cause it to ride higher on the eye)

Also, whether you are wearing 30 day disposable lenses, or 2 week disposable lenses or conventional contact lenses, they should never be worn in the shower or in the pool or at the beach or really in any sitaution where you are going to potentially have contact with ANY water. This is a potentially dangerous bacteria, called acanthameoba, in water that can cause very nasty and hard to treat infections, which in the most severe cases can cause blindness. So, regardless of the type of lens, they should NOT be worn for anything having to do with water, nor should you ever wash your contacts off with water; only sterile contact lens solution or sterile saline solution should be used. (Keep in mind that saline DOES NOT disinfect)

My advice to you is to give your eyes a break SEVERAL times a month and just wear your glasses. And if you don't have glasses - invest in a decent pair that you won't be afraid to leave the house wearing. We never see patients in for complications who follow this practice. Patients who are compliant seldom have problems. Your eyes will be much healthier and you only get one set so take care of them!

http://www.steen-hall.com/c_gpc.html

http://dro.hs.columbia.edu/cornealnv.htm

**EDIT** I'd love to know who gave me the thumbs down and why...I guess the Board Certified Optician who has been doing this for almost 11 years now, has NO idea what she's talking about...sheesh!

Continuous wear lenses have a higher complication rate than conventional wear lenses (wearing during the day time only). I'm an optometrist and my advice would be similar to the most recent optician you saw. You should not swim in any contact lens due to the chlorine and bacteria in the water. The same goes for bath and shower water. Tap water contains a bacteria called pseudomonas and it can cause very nasty infections (and by wearing your lenses all day everyday you are at higher risk of infections...), so if you bathe in your lenses you are allowing this bacteria into your eye and risking infections.
I would advise you have 1 night a week (with a couple of hours before going to sleep aswell) without contact lens wear. This will allow your eye maximum oxygen and allow your eye to heal itself, should any superficial damage have happened.
A lot of contact lens patients say "well I've been doing (whatever) for years and never had any problems, so why should I change?". It's all statistics, some people who do a certain thing will be lucky and not get a problem then there will be the unlucky few that suffer because they develop the problem opticians warn you about. It's like the smoking and cancer relationship, if it's a risk you are willing to take then only you can decide to do it.
The worst that could happen is that you could lose you sight, you could have a very nasty infection or you could be in a position where you can never wear contact lenses again because you have rejection problems or oxygen starvation that causes blood vessels to grow into your cornea.
I personally would wear the lenses for a few nights as you need to. It only takes a couple of minutes to take them out, and if that couple of minutes can decrease your risk of complications and improve eye health then why not do it?
Its your eyes, take care of them!!!

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