Contact lenses and diving -Questions Welcome - by Idocsteve

[idocsteve]

Via PM

I am taking my last Scuba class tonight, OW in a week and a half. I saw some posts you made and believe you can answer my questions quite nicely, thank you in advance for you time & advice.

I have worn contacts for as long as I can remember - probably middle school. I own and wear glasses when necessary and can 'function' although i would never drive without either if absolutely necessary.

During my scuba training, as I am sure you know, you must practice a lot of mask removal, mask evacuation and retrieval type maneuvers. I was caught off-guard by this on the first night we did this in the pool and simply kept my eyes closed to evacuate water from my mask.

Since then, I have simply been wearing glasses that day and going into the pool without eye correction. I can function in class and do the required tests no problem. I don't mind opening my eyes under water provided I don't lose my contacts in the process.

My question is this - the instructor suggested I get a vision corrected mask. What I don't understand is why I can't simply scuba with my contacts. Can you please explain. A friend who is AOW certified, and who wears glasses, never contacts, has corrected lenses on his mask and suggests same - while telling me in the 10 years he's been diving, he's never had his mask accidentally removed.

Getting my eyes wet won't lose a contact and in an emergency, losing a contact or two won't be my biggest problem. So - can I wear contacts once I finish my class and start diving normally or should I seriously look into getting a corrected mask for my diving?

Thanks -

My response

What I don't understand is why I can't simply scuba with my contacts. Can you please explain.

I have no explanation, I agree that you can simply scuba with your contacts and I don't believe it's necessary to get a vision corrected mask that you'll pay lots of money for and probably never use. Close your eyes when clearing your mask, you can't see much anyway once water floods your mask.

Getting my eyes wet won't lose a contact and in an emergency, losing a contact or two won't be my biggest problem. So - can I wear contacts once I finish my class and start diving normally or should I seriously look into getting a corrected mask for my diving?

If you lose a contact lens due to water in your mask it's not the end of the world. Just practice closing your eyes when you flood the mask and you should be ok.

Based on what you told me I don't think you need to bother with an Rx mask.

Always keep extra contacts in your dive bag.

 

[Tigerman]

...
Often, low hyperopes such as yourself do not wear their correction all day long so they have learned to be somewhat "blur tolerant".
...

This might be somewhat of a "technical" question, but it got me wondering..
Its only been a few months since I got my eyes checked, simply because I was starting to have issues picking out single faces in dark crowds (ie bars) and I was also starting to feel my eyes got tired fairly early in the day.
Turns out Im slightly nearsighted and have astigmatisms. It was actually not good enough to pass a vision test to be allowed to drive without correction.
Left: -0,75 cyl -1,25/90
Right: -0,5 cyl -0,75/100

I didnt really have any issue driving, diving or whatever and didnt generally think the world looked very "blurry", atleast not untill a couple of months before I had the eye test. now however when I remove my glasses it very much is, so I wonder if this is because I where tolerant to blur or is it because the eyes has actually been compensating for the blur before, but isnt anymore because theyve got used to the correction which I now use all the time (except when sleeping)?

 

[idocsteve]

I didnt really have any issue driving, diving or whatever and didnt generally think the world looked very "blurry", atleast not untill a couple of months before I had the eye test. now however when I remove my glasses it very much is, so I wonder if this is because I where tolerant to blur or is it because the eyes has actually been compensating for the blur before, but isnt anymore because theyve got used to the correction which I now use all the time (except when sleeping)?

I see this all day long. You were blurry before but you had nothing compare it to, sort of like watching regular TV before HDTV came out. You didn't know what you were missing, you got used to the blur, when driving you spend a fraction of a second or more trying to make out a road sign than someone with 20/20 vision, you might have missed objects off to the side because they were too out of focus to trigger your photoreceptors, but hey you got by.

Your vision worsened to the point that you knew you weren't seeing as clearly as you once did which prompted the eye exam, and you discovered that you do not meet the minimum requirements for driving even though you don't think you have any issues.

You're confusing your subjective evaluation of your vision with an objective measurement taken on a calibrated chart in an eye doctors office and like I said, there are many more just like you, probably worse, driving on our roadways every day.

Wear the Rx for driving and all distance visually demanding tasks, no it won't make your vision any worse although it seems worse after you remove them because you sort of "got used" to seeing things clearly and your natural vision isn't all that great.

 

[Tigerman]

I do use the Rx for anything but sleeping at the moment. Im still not 100% satisfied with the contacts though. I actually think the optician might have done a half-assed job with them, but I dont have to time to get it fixed before Im off to the red sea on sunday. Theire a world better than no correction but one of them atleast is less than perfect and the comfort is not great. Think Ill go to a different optician to get a 2nd look at it when I get back.

 

[idocsteve]

but I dont have to time to get it fixed before Im off to the red sea on sunday. Theire a world better than no correction but one of them atleast is less than perfect and the comfort is not great. Think Ill go to a different optician to get a 2nd look at it when I get back.

Always leave time in your schedule for a few return visits when being fit for new contact lenses. Especially with bifocal or astigmatic contact lenses. It's not uncommon to need to see the patient back in the office several times over a few week period to fine tune the fit and possibly even change lens brands due to wettability and comfort issues.

Sometimes the diagnostic lenses need to be ordered and that can take a week right there.

 

[Tigerman]

I have been there several times the past two months. The current ones works, but I wonder if the curvature is not quite as good as it should be. The toric lens for the right eye also didnt work quite as it should have and they have limited options on brands it seems. Wanna find a "bigger" optician with more options for the contacts when I get back.

 

[idocsteve]

Wanna find a "bigger" optician with more options for the contacts when I get back.

Bigger isn't necessarily better.

 

[Tigerman]

Bigger isn't necessarily better.

Not neccesarilly no, but more options seems to be what I need at the moment, so Im going to have to find someone that has them..

 

[RJP]

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.

Thanks for the response Doc!

Had my annual exam on Monday and am now scheduled for CL fitting on Friday. Going to try 1-Day Acuvue Moist, as my optometrist thinks I can get away without bifocal lenses for a little while longer - will let you know how it goes!

 

[RJP]

Thanks for the response Doc!

Had my annual exam on Monday and am now scheduled for CL fitting on Friday. Going to try 1-Day Acuvue Moist, as my optometrist thinks I can get away without bifocal lenses for a little while longer - will let you know how it goes!

"Doctor, doctor - I can see!"

Have my first-ever pair of contact lenses in today. Pretty cool to be able to read my watch, dashboard, mobile phone, laptop, etc without glasses.

Tomorrow will be my first bike ride where I'll be able to wear my good riding sunglasses and still see all the data on my cyclocomputer.

Will be diving on Sunday to see what it's like to be able to see my computer and gauges etc without using my glue-in cheaters.