Diving with Scleral Lenses

[divesergeant]

Hi Ricardo,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Like with you, these were a Godsend. Before, with other contact lenses and with glasses my vision was simply no longer good enough for my line of work. Sclerals have extended my ability to keep working and I am grateful.

I do the peroxide soak using Clear Care Plus every day, sometimes doing a second right after the first if I'm not going to be wearing them. I have mostly stopped using the rubbing cleaner per recomendation from my doctor and the lens maker. For insertion, I use PuriLens Plus in 4oz bottles. Both can be found on Amazon if local sources don't have it. It might be a good alternative to the Unisol 4 and is advertised as a replacement for it.

Thanks again for your experience. I had read a ton of articles looking for info on diving with Sclerals and every one seemed to make the issue more confusing. Hopefully others will read this and realize that it can be done.

Cheers, and safe diving!

 

[divesergeant]

Bratface, did you ever get sclerals? How are they working for you?

For Ricardo, Bausch and Lomb has a new lens insertion fluid that I am trying. It is called ScleralFil, comes in small single use vials. Costs a bit more but so far it seems a bit less prone to getting my eyes gunky after a long day. Sometimes they get filmy under the contacts and I end up removing them and changing the fluid. The new fluid seems better but I'm still testing!

 

[caffeinedreams]

I appreciate this thread, being another member of the subotimal-eye group

I was diagnosed with keratoconus around 6 years ago, underwent non-invasive corneal crosslinking and currently wear the NovaKone Toric hybrid lenses. They work like a charm for me but I've also wondered how they'd hold up with repetitive dives. I haven't had any trouble with them so far but they do seem to "stick" to my eye more after diving.

Glad to hear everyone's making it work so far!

 

[divesergeant]

Hi caffeinedreams,

I have felt at times that they were stuck pretty strongly on my eyes after diving. I figure it's from from pressure pushing them on tight. Makes you wonder if the contact will come off the eye before the eye comes out of the socket, lol. Well, not quite that bad, but you know what I mean!

How did the cross-linking go? My eye guy said it might be something I could benefit from in the near future. But, as my problems are from trying refractive surgeries when they were new, I am hesitant to try another new-ish thing. Last thing I need is to make it worse and not be able to work!

 

[Ricardo V.]

@caffeinedreams
I've wondered about that myself and have never lost them. I don't think they will come off that easy. I've even asked my Dr. and he also thinks it's unlikely they will just come off from diving.
I'll be honest with you... I've got this habit of jumping off the boat during surface intervals and only after I'm kind of settling at the surface is that I often realize... wait a minute, I've got to be carful. Don't want to loose my contacts. So far, so good. I keep forgetting and still have them.

There are instances in which we do 5 dives a day, lionfish hunting or just taking photos and they hold up just fine. I'll put them on first thing in the AM, take them off after dinner and let them go through a clearcare dip till next morning.

Hope this helps.

Ricardo

 

[Ricardo V.]

@divesergeant
Thank you for the tip on the ScleraFil. I'm going to check it out.
My stash of unisol is down to 1/4 bottle and that's that.....
Hopefully local Walgreens or CVS have it.
Cheers,
Ricardo

 

[Bratface]

Bratface, did you ever get sclerals? How are they working for you?

I did get them and have been wearing them for about seven months. No problems Diving with them. They have improved my vision significantly.


For Ricardo, Bausch and Lomb has a new lens insertion fluid that I am trying. It is called ScleralFil, comes in small single use vials. Costs a bit more but so far it seems a bit less prone to getting my eyes gunky after a long day. Sometimes they get filmy under the contacts and I end up removing them and changing the fluid. The new fluid seems better but I'm still testing!

 

[caffeinedreams]

How did the cross-linking go? My eye guy said it might be something I could benefit from in the near future.

The cross-linking went well, I had it done around 6 years ago (when it was still in clinical trial) and have shown little to no decline since then. Luckily I see a great specialist in NY who I can run all my concerns by once or twice a year!

Although it's newly approved in the U.S., they've been doing the invasive version of the procedure for quite some time in Europe now with very good results. The real test will be time.

Alex

 

[divesergeant]

Thanks caffeine. My doctor says it is smething that I can start to think about for later. On one hand, I am not eager to try something that does not have time under its belt. On the other hand, the longer I wait the worse the vision gets.

I can foresee doing it in the next five or ten years. A hangup is the recovery period; I need to be 20/20 in both eyes for work and can't work with physical limitations or extra risks if I get hit in the face/eyes. What was your recovery time like?

 

[caffeinedreams]

Recovery time was minimal for me since I did the epi-on (noninvasive) version, which is just drops and UV light. Probably less than a day to regain normal vision and sensitivity. The invasive (epi-off) version requires more extensive recovery but is thought to be more effective.

I'm surprised your doc recommends thinking about it as a down-the-road procedure since it's preventative, not corrective. Studies seem mostly promising but I'm sure your guy can tell you more than me

Best and happy diving,
Alex