Contact lenses...info please!

[wetlettuce]

Hi

I wear contacts all the time. The soft ones that need replacing each month.

I have worn them whilst diving and also swimming. The only time I have lost one was when I dived in the pool with my eyes open. Doh!

I usually close my eyes initially when the mask is filling but then can open my eyes with no problem, pretty much as I would do without lenses to be honest. I try not to close my eyes as I teach students and don't want to pass on any bad habits. I can also swim underwater with my eyes open. I don't know how good (or bad) normal vision is underwater to compare (as I don't have normal vision!)

The only thing I find is that it sometimes takes a little while for the lenses to 'settle' afterwards, but this is seconds, not minutes. Careful blinking to clear the water is sometimes required.

I'd rather wear contacts than have prescription lenses. You're unlikely to lose both lenses at once and it is possible to see with just one lens. Your brain seems to compensate.

HTH

WL

 

[MrMojo]

Hi all,
I have always worn contacts and at present use the daily disposables and always carry a spare pair or two in my car/boat and also a pair of glasses.Recently i had a problem where i could not clear my mask due to a blocked nose and had to abort the dive ,last week in the pool i tried an experiment with mask removal and my contact lens .Granted this was in a pool with good vis but i was able to take my mask off and put over my wrist and swim around the entire circumference of the pool one arms length of the bottom and side.At times my eyes was closed(chlorine stings) but for the most i squinting and was able to make out were i had to turn and did not lose a contact,this gave me alot more confidence but how i would fare in cold dirty water with a strong current if debatable.At least i know i could perform self rescue if really nessesary.

Regards,

MAL..

 

[Goeduck]

During our last pool session, our instructor had us remove our masks and he took them to the shallow end of the pool. We then had to sink to the bottom, swim to the shallow end, find our mask, put it on and then clear the mask before we could surface. I was very concerned about losing a contact or two, but I found that I could squint and still be able to see well enough to find my mask and complete the exercise.

I also wear disposables and I carry an older pair as spares, just in case I should lose one during a dive.

 

[Dxtreme]

done and passed my PADI OW with contact lenses on.

1) Dont open your eyes underwater without the masks

2) Dont EVER GO TO OVERHEAD ENVIRONMENT. If you do this, then i higly suggest a percription masks as a spare

3) bring extra lenses so if you lost one, you still have a spare for the rest of the day.

IF YOU LOST YOUR LENSES UNDERWATER JUST ABORT AND GO STRAIGHT UP !! USE YOUR EARS SO YOU DONT GET CHOPPED BY BOATS

 

[Jonathan]

If you wear lenses whilst doing your o/w let the instructor know.

I used to wear daily disposable but lost one on about my 15th dive - swam sound in circles for ages! Just kidding, I didn't actually know until I surfaced as my eyes aren't that bad and the refraction of the water compensated nicely....

I have two buddies in the UK who both look like Mr Magoo with their masks on....

 

[Irishdiver]

Reviewing these posts, and if I may generalise, it appears that most people who dive with contacts don't really have vision impairment that is particularly bad. If they do, they use prescription lenses in their masks.

Obviously, in either situation carrying a spare mask with prescription lenses would resolve the difficulties associated with losing contacts/mask. Prescription lenses for masks are expensive, but the alternative is to incur serious risks.

I'm not sure what you mean when you refer to 'overhead environment', DXtreme - are you talking about cave diving/wreck penetration, where vision would be important for finding your way back out?

Thanks, everyone.

ut:

 

[goyan]

(Sorry if this post isn't particularly cohesive, but I am at home after surgery, and pain meds don't allow for clear thoughts)

That is not necessarily true. Many people have very bad eyesight and wear contacts, and dive with them.

I have swam with my eyes open, and while not particulary good for the contacts, as long as your eyes aren't wide open they don't come out easily.

I dive with contacts, and have completely removed my mask several times without incident.

It really isn't that easy to lose them if they are in good shape (fairly new and clean).

Now, as far as diving in overhead environments? I do have qualms about that, as if I lost my mask it could be a difficult swim out.

As part of the predive planning it is understood with my buddy that if I lose a contact, the diving is over, at least until I can put another in.

 

[MakoSince70]

Just had to add my history to this string.
In the 70s I did hundreds of dives with hard or gas permeable lens. I had no problems. In fact during this time I was a lifeguard at a pool and had to pull a kid off the bottom of the deep end. That's when I found if I barely opened my eyes underwater that I could see as clearly as if I had a mask on.
In the 80s I moved to soft lenses. In fact latter in life I could no longer wear any contacts for other reasons. But I always kept one pair for diving and would insert them on the boat just prior to making the dive. No problems with the soft lenses. Finally in the 90s I moved to an excellent prescription mask. The mask was great but in becoming a divemaster extremely inconvenient working with students. Moving in and out of the water. I had to keep the mask on at shore and on the boat. I even carried glasses in one of those water proof cases so I could swith from mask to glasses at the surface. I should mention that my uncorrected vision was 20/800 with a serious stigmatism. Basically blind. A year ago I purchased the ultimate dive equipment. Lasik surgury. Life and diving is even greater.
70 dives on Lasik with no problem.

 

[The Pirate]

Irishdiver once bubbled...
* If you remove/lose your mask underwater, don't you also lose your lenses?

Not always. I have been diving with contacts since the beginning of my diving adventure many years ago. I've always worn the daily disposable lenses and keep a couple of spare lenses and a small btl of lens solution in my dry box. I have found that while underwater, I can take my mask off and fully open my eyes and not loose my lenses. I am most at risk of losing my lenses while at the surface, either just before the dive or after. It is a sudden rush of water across my eyes that will wash the lenses out.

* If water seeps into the mask, isn't there a chance that your lenses will become displaced?

I don't think I've ever done a dive where water hasn't seeped into my mask. That's why you learn to clear the water out of your mask. I've had a couple of dives from hell where I found myself 5000' back in a cave with a severely fogging and leaking mask and a long time b4 getting back to the surface. Despite the mask problems constant flooding clearing to wash the foging. I still came out with my lenses on. Of course there's a chance the lenses will become displaced, and if that's a big concern then you should get a prescription mask.

* If you DO lose your lenses, aren't you at risk because you can't see well enough to deal with - or assist your buddy in the event of - an emergency?

If you do lose your lenses the severity of the problem depends upon the severity of your eyesight impairment. If you are nearsighted the water and the mask will give you approximately a -2 correction. The risk is no different that if you completely lost your mask. If a contact lensed diver lost his/her lenses and their eyesight was so bad that they couldn't see any better than if they had completely lost their mask, then its time to thumb the dive. If you're diving with good buddy skills, YOUR buddy should help you to the surface.

Surely if these points are correct - and I don't know if they are, there are no divers who dive with lenses in my club - then NOBODY should dive with lenses?

A lot of divers dive with lenses and there is no reason why they shouldn't. Soft lenses are the way to go. The daily disposables are the best for diving, because you can throw them away and the end of the day or between dives if you want. You do not want to dive with hard contacts.

 

[cstreu1026]

I did my first few dives with contacts, however I have switched to a Sea Vision prescription mask. The switch is purely for my own comfort, as I am not that comfy in my contacts and generally choose to wear glasses. My vision is fairly terrible at best, but I still think I could safely surface in teh event that I lost my mask or a contact if I were wearing them.

Now if only I could afford Lasik.