Contact lenses and diving -Questions Welcome - by Idocsteve

[DeusVerto]

4- Reading glasses over contact lenses. Self explanatory.

This is the best solution for diving I've found. I wear glasses usually because my eyes are too dry to sustain contact wearing for any significant amount of time.

 

[idocsteve]

This is the best solution for diving I've found. I wear glasses usually because my eyes are too dry to sustain contact wearing for any significant amount of time.

Reading glasses over your contacts were the best solution for diving?

How do you avoid breaking the mask seal with the temples (arms) of the glasses where they go along the side of your head?

 

[Tigerman]

Reading glasses over your contacts were the best solution for diving?

How do you avoid breaking the mask seal with the temples (arms) of the glasses where they go along the side of your head?

Monocles

 

[diver 85]

Monocles

Close -it's called monvision--been fitting them that way since ~ 1975....& it works...

 

[Tigerman]

Close -it's called monvision--been fitting them that way since ~ 1975....& it works...

It was an answer to an answer

 

[DeusVerto]

Reading glasses over your contacts were the best solution for diving?

How do you avoid breaking the mask seal with the temples (arms) of the glasses where they go along the side of your head?

Well, more precisely, a mask with reading lenses built in.

 

[idocsteve]

Well, more precisely, a mask with reading lenses built in.

As I have said in the first post on this thread, I don't work with Rx dive masks and I don't know much about them other than what I've read here on ScubaBoard.

However, on the face of it, a mask with reading lenses doesn't make sense because the near vision Rx in the lenses will blur anything beyond the focal range of those lenses which is going to be in the 16-24" range. So the lenses would have to be small, with a straight top, and located at precisely the right spot so they are low enough to allow a good amount of distance vision but still be usable for reading and viewing close objects.

I know they make these little plastic bifocal stick on thingies but I haven't read anything about them working all that well, and at least those can easily be removed and reattached in a different location if necessary.

 

[DeusVerto]

So the lenses would have to be small, with a straight top, and located at precisely the right spot so they are low enough to allow a good amount of distance vision but still be usable for reading and viewing close objects.

As it just so happens, that is PRECISELY how this mask is made.

XS Scuba MA280 Gauge Reader Scuba Mask

 

[idocsteve]

Via pm (member user ID removed to protect privacy)

So, I'm contemplating going to CL's at the age of 44. Only been wearing glasses for ~5yrs. Only really need them for reading (hyperopic, presbyopic), but wear them all the time since EVERYTHING involves some kind of reading - my watch, the dashboard, a computer, a menu, etc, etc.

I'm just at the point now where I'm tired of dealing with glasses. Especially during activities such as diving (I use glue-on gauge readers), cycling, etc. I don't need them for distance beyond 5-6 feet, but things like dive computers/gauges, cycle computers, etc are impossible to read without them.

Really hit me on my recent travels where the environment of living on a boat or on the side of a mountain for a week or two was just inhospitable to glasses and where I would have preferred a good set of sunglasses.

I suppose I could go to prescription sunglasses, but the need for several pair (driving/casual different than serious cycling, etc) and then the need for prescription dive mask.

Seems like CL's would just be easier overall.

My prescription is pretty light (I think) +2.00OD/+1.75OS (last year anyway) and I currently wear single-vision spectacles all the time. Any reason to think I couldn't get the same visual acuity with the same Rx in CLs?

Appreciate any thoughts or insights you might have.

My response:

Your Rx is ideal for bifocal contact lenses. I have had excellent success rates with the B&L Soflens Bifocal and the newer Oasys Bifocal.

I suggest you speak to your eyedoc and find out if they routinely fit these types of contacts, not everyone does.

Due to optics, low hyperopes tend to have a higher success rate with bifocal lenses. Add to that the fact that you have little to no astigmatism which is difficult if not impossible to correct with a bifocal contact lens. Often, low hyperopes such as yourself do not wear their correction all day long so they have learned to be somewhat "blur tolerant". Since bifocal contacts don't give quite the same "sharpness" as eye glasses or single vision contacts, the tolerance to blur is an important issue when fitting these lenses.

 

[CriticalMass]

However, on the face of it, a mask with reading lenses doesn't make sense because the near vision Rx in the lenses will blur anything beyond the focal range of those lenses which is going to be in the 16-24" range. So the lenses would have to be small, with a straight top, and located at precisely the right spot so they are low enough to allow a good amount of distance vision but still be usable for reading and viewing close objects.

I know they make these little plastic bifocal stick on thingies but I haven't read anything about them working all that well, and at least those can easily be removed and reattached in a different location if necessary.

Just to add to the mix, the mask available from seavisionusa.com can include a bifocal correction. The ordering process includes the option to provide your Rx including astigmatism. The lens is not the "stick-on" type. It's molded into, and is an integral part of, the front surface of the mask lens - a one-piece lens. I bought one and it works pretty well. Mask material could be a little stiffer, but that's probably mostly personal preference.