Diving With Contact Lenses

[Web Monkey]

I am thinking of getting contacts, can I dive with them? I only need them to read and will need them to check settings on my camera underwater. I have lenses ordered for my mask but contacts would be much more convienient.

I dive with contacts all the time. One side is for close (computer) and the other for distance and they work great.

Have your doc prescribe daily disposables. There are things in the water that contact lens cleaning solution was never designed to kill and poor maintenance can give you a nasty eye infection (or more disgusting, infestation).

Terry

 

[idocsteve]

I'm not sure what reading contacts are and with you being an Optometrist, I'm not disputing your knowledge, however; to say No you can't dive with a pair of reading Rx contact lenses, IMHO isn't quite correct. I do it every dive.

If you see reasonably well in the distance while wearing Rx contact lenses for reading, then you are most likely hyperopic in one or both eyes and in fact your situation is an exception that I didnt think of when I made my post. In that scenario, the reading power of the contact lens is partially correcting (or slightly over correcting) a mild to moderate distance prescription in addition to helping with nearpoint vision- This is probably why your distance vision is reportedly not so good in general...even when not wearing the contacts.

Or..you are in your early to mid 40s and you require such a mild reading Rx that it has an insignificant effect on the distance vision.

Or.. you are using an underpowered reading Rx in the contacts that allows you to see larger numbers but it's not ideal for very fine print.

Or any combination of the above.

I probably should have said "In the vast majority of cases, people who wear reading Rx's will experience significant distance blur, however there are exceptions to this rule, such as in the case of uncorrected farsightedness (hyperopia) and with very mild reading prescriptions."

Thank you for bringing this error to my attention.

I dive with contacts all the time. One side is for close (computer) and the other for distance and they work great.
Terry

This is the monovision technique that I had mentioned in an earlier post on this thread.

Divers with no significant prescription for distance may need to use only one contact lens, corrected for reading.

 

[electric_diver]

I have been using soft disposable contact lenses for my entire diving career in all sorts of conditions with no issues. That is about 1350 dives over 17 years. I use the disposables because if you lose one it is no big deal. I keep a spare pair in my save a dive kit.

 

[Walter]

Soft lenses yes; hard lenses no.

 

[pasley]

I used the one day throw away lenses. They are cheap enough that if they get washed out it is no big deal and you don't have to worry about cleaning them. Trhow them away after the dive. I wore one eye for reading the other for distance.

 

[still new]

Thanks for all the info. The contacts I am buying are for people who only need reading glasses. These are called Bausch&Lomb MULTI-FOCAL. Google them , there is a coupon for a free trial pair. That is what I'm going to do.

 

[still new]

To idocsteve, see my above post about the new multi focal lenses.

 

[idocsteve]

To idocsteve, see my above post about the new multi focal lenses.

I already posted about bifocal contact lenses. I prescribe them all the time, however they take some getting used to and they're really not intended for occasional use, however that doesn't mean they cannot be used only for diving.

Regarding the "free trial pair", I highly doubt a licensed eye care professional is going to fit you with a pair of free lenses AND waive the exam fee. These lenses take above average expertise to fit and you're going to pay for that service.

Occasional contact lens wearers such as those who will use them only for diving are probably best served with monovision contact lenses, one for distance and one for reading, and some divers may only need to wear one reading contact lens and nothing in the other eye if they are already seeing clearly at distance.

 

[Scotttyd]

another vote for one day disposables, I wear glasses most of the time topside - I some neovascularzation (I cannot spell either), and use one-day disposable for diving - I thought about prescription goggles, but my vision is so bad, I would be fumbling around on the boat if I was not wearing my goggles, and it is too easy for glasses to get smashed on the boat.

 

[Tom Winters]

So wearing contacts gets in the "Divers with Disabilities" section, along with mental illness, COPD, and diabetes? With monovision lenses, I pretty much junked the reading glasses and eBayed the SeaVision mask with the built-in -2.0 gauge readers.