Swimming with contact lenses

shiney85

My optician has always been quite firm that I shouldn't wear my contacts when swimming but if you're an "as and when" swimmer like me, and blind as a bat, unless someone is with me I keep them in, and just keep my head above water/close them if someone splashes etc, then take them out after I've finished to clean them and pop my glasses on, I use monthlies.

purpleshoes_2

I was never advised not to by any optician. Not mentioned at all and Ive been wearing contacts for 26 years now. Subject never came up at all. Same with whether you should apply make up with contacts in or out. Ive had several contact lens checks and eye tests over the years and not once has an optician spoken about sport and lenses and Ive been with a few big chains, Dolland and Aitchison and specsavers to name but two.

suki1964

shiney85 wrote: »

My optician has always been quite firm that I shouldn't wear my contacts when swimming but if you're an "as and when" swimmer like me, and blind as a bat, unless someone is with me I keep them in, and just keep my head above water/close them if someone splashes etc, then take them out after I've finished to clean them and pop my glasses on, I use monthlies.

Hate to say this, but you cannot clean monthlies sufficiently to make them safe. If you have to wear contacts then buy disposables just for swimming and throw them straight away

Nicki

You can buy off the peg prescription goggles in the same way as you can buy off the peg reading glasses and they cost around £20. You don't need perfect sight to swim just good enough to be able to walk from changing room to pool and do a length without bumping into anyone.

I wouldn't risk my sight for a one off £20 payment. I'd either not swim at all, pay the money or swim in my specs! I like driving, reading and going to the cinema and theatre far too much to risk losing the sight painfully in one eye or worse both far too much!

terra_ferma

She's decided that she's going to wear goggles to start with, then possibly daily lenses (I don't think prescription goggles are an option, they don't go high enough, but she's gonna ask her optician).

Does anybody know which goggles would be the best for keeping water out?
She's looked at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00275T8PE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005YXDK46/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AB0NCJO6ZM5JQ

terra_ferma

Nicki wrote: »

You can buy off the peg prescription goggles in the same way as you can buy off the peg reading glasses and they cost around £20. You don't need perfect sight to swim just good enough to be able to walk from changing room to pool and do a length without bumping into anyone.

I wouldn't risk my sight for a one off £20 payment. I'd either not swim at all, pay the money or swim in my specs! I like driving, reading and going to the cinema and theatre far too much to risk losing the sight painfully in one eye or worse both far too much!

I like posters who seem to know it all
Just because you can find prescription goggles of the peg it doesn't mean that everybody can, it depends on the prescription.

Nicki

Ignoring how rude you are for the time being, you can get off the peg goggles everywhere from +7 to -12 for this kind of money and your sight doesn't need to be perfectly corrected in both eyes to swim, just corrected enough to be able to get from the changing room to the pool. She's not driving operating machinery or trying to read in the pool after all where a very accurate prescription would be needed.

If her prescription is different in each eye she can use a compromise prescription. Again it's not perfect but I've had to do this in the past and it was good enough.

If your daughters sight is so far outside those ranges that the nearest prescription goggle would not improve her enough to be able to do that, then she really shouldn't be risking her already very poor sight unnecessarily to acanthamoeba infections.

It could in any case be a holding position until she saves enough for custom made goggles from her optician in a more perfect strength.

I am vehement on this because I have seen the pictures of what this condition does to the eye and read how painful it is and it is an unnecessary risk (like welding without eye protection IMO).

RuthnJasper

Nicki wrote: »

You can buy off the peg prescription goggles in the same way as you can buy off the peg reading glasses and they cost around £20. You don't need perfect sight to swim just good enough to be able to walk from changing room to pool and do a length without bumping into anyone.

I wouldn't risk my sight for a one off £20 payment. I'd either not swim at all, pay the money or swim in my specs! I like driving, reading and going to the cinema and theatre far too much to risk losing the sight painfully in one eye or worse both far too much!

Or you could keep your contacts in and wear ordinary goggles...

Here's a salutary tale from when I was very young, before I changed to contacts and wore (very thick ) glasses. My mum forbade me to wear my glasses whilst swimming and charged my younger brother with not abandoning me and taking care of me as I couldn't see clearly beyond my nose. My brother had very distinctive and highly-coloured "flags of the world" swimming trunks. Inevitably, he ditched me ASAP to go and splash about with his mates and I was left blindly floundering.

20 minutes later, I can (just about) identify the multi-flagged trunks and yell (in my fiercest under-10 year old voice) "OI!! You!! Come back here now, you git!". My voice echoed around the pool hall and - yes; of course - it was NOT my brother, but a random and startled stranger wearing identical trunks. I was mortified. AND it took my brother about 6 years to stop taking the p*ss. Horrid.

Terra-Firma, the ones I got were similar to these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speedo-Womens-Aquapure-Goggle-White/dp/B00D7ECNEM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1404562848&sr=8-3&keywords=speedo+swimming+goggles+blue
they were definitely Speedo brand, although they were more similar in appearance to these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Foxnovo-Adjustable-Fogging-Anti-UV-Swimming-Dark-Blue/dp/B00KA748KG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1404562848&sr=8-6&keywords=speedo+swimming+goggles+blue.

Best wishes.

Nicki

You could Ruth although it isn't recommended best practice and you need to ensure that your goggles are completely waterproof and have a good seal and would still be at risk if they slipped at any point (eg if a toddler grabbed at your face or if the elastic band which hold them was looser due to wear and tear). There is quite a small cost differential between a decent pair of well fitting non prescription goggles and the generic vision corrected ones. On one of the two pairs you linked to the difference between that and a -12 prescription pair online is just £3 to eliminate all risk.

RuthnJasper

Nicki wrote: »

You could Ruth although it isn't recommended best practice and you need to ensure that your goggles are completely waterproof and have a good seal and would still be at risk if they slipped at any point (eg if a toddler grabbed at your face or if the elastic band which hold them was looser due to wear and tear). There is quite a small cost differential between a decent pair of well fitting non prescription goggles and the generic vision corrected ones. On one of the two pairs you linked to the difference between that and a -12 prescription pair online is just £3 to eliminate all risk.

That's true; I cannot argue with your logic Nicki. But my posts are from my own experience and advice just based upon that. x