A doctor removed 23 contact lenses from a patient's eye after the woman claimed she forgot to take them out for almost a month.
Dr Katerina Kurteeva said the patient, in her mid-70s, did not remove the lenses at night and kept on putting a new one in every morning, for 23 days in a row.
The patient had complained about pain in her eye and blurry vision, but only after a deep examination, it was clear that she had several contact lenses stuck in the upper part of her eye.
The opthalmologist shared a video on the California Eye Associates Instagram page, urging people to remember to remove their contact lenses before going to bed at night.
In the clip, the doctor, who works in Newport Beach, California, can be seen removing lenses - some of them yellow and some light blue - from her patient's eye with a cotton wool bud.
Dr Kurteeva said anyone who needs contact lenses should get proper initial fitting and training to learn how to place and remove them safely.
She also said it is important to wash hands before taking them out and placing them in your eyes.
The expert said patients should always dispose of their daily contact lenses before going to bed or use a proper storage solution for extended-wear lenses.
In the caption, Dr Kurteeva added: "If you wear contact lenses and your eye turns red, see your Ophthalmologist or optometrist for an exam to make sure that there is no infection. AND NEVER SLEEP IN YOUR CONTACT LENSES."
The doctor told Insider : "In nearly 20 years of practice, I had never seen anything like it. The patient couldn't believe it either and asked if I was sure about the number I was counting.
"After we had removed the biggest blob, we retrieved a few more from the corners, carefully flushed her eye out with distilled, sterile water, removed some of the mucous, and sent her home with anti-inflammatory drops. She said she felt much better already."
The opthalmologist added that the patient was "very fortunate" as she could have lost her vision, scratched her cornea, or got an infection.
Dr Kurteeva said she asked the patient to not wear contact lenses and "give her eyes a break", however the woman went back to wearing them straight away.
She added: "I saw her a month after the examination and she was doing really well, feeling much more comfortable and seeing clearly."
