Contact lenses and Diving?

[Padipro]

Allen42 once bubbled...


Is that just a bit better or worse than 20/20? And how would you go about looking for the right doc? We have docs in town who claim to have done more than 30,000 surgeries, etc. Is more actually better?

Check out these guys. Lasik MD They're in Canada and the exchange rate is in our favor. They offer specials every now and then that make it very affordable. The total for the hotel, rental car, food and the surgery was about $1200. The place is spotless and the staff great. They even gave us a discount of $200 each because there were two of us going. The results were fantastic, I was seeing better in 20 minutes then I had in 20 years.

Scott

 

[Finnatic]

I am unfortunately not a candidate for Lasik. I did manage to get fitted with bifocal contacts, though. I am going to wear them for the first time tonight in the pool (OW class). I'll have to remember the tips about carrying the spare lenses in the save a dive kit. I would like to know more about the presciption masks though as I am a little worried about being able to read the guages easily underwater. Is there a particular brand of mask that is known to be better than others for the prescription?

 

[Padipro]

Finnatic once bubbled...
I am unfortunately not a candidate for Lasik. I did manage to get fitted with bifocal contacts, though. I am going to wear them for the first time tonight in the pool (OW class). I'll have to remember the tips about carrying the spare lenses in the save a dive kit. I would like to know more about the presciption masks though as I am a little worried about being able to read the guages easily underwater. Is there a particular brand of mask that is known to be better than others for the prescription?

A company called Neoptx makes a peel and stick flexable plastic magnification lens that works like a bifocal in a SCUBA mask to help people see things like guages called DiveOptx. They might be all you need as the water will magnify objects making them appear lagrer and closer then they really are. Before LASIK my eye sight was so bad that without my contacts I couldn't read a coke can more then 6 inches in front of my face but underwater my vision improved enough that I could actually read my SPG at arms lenght. Now if I would have had these DiveOptx I might have been ablt to see them even better.

Just a thought,

Scott

 

[skye]

I'm on a waiting list for the surgery and when they call I will have to go to Jacksonville, FL or Bethusna Maryland for the surgery. Can anyone tell me how long the recovery time is after surgery for driving, flying or diving, and what precautions are needed?

 

[learn-scuba]

Padipro once bubbled...


A company called Neoptx makes a peel and stick flexable plastic magnification lens <snip>

PadiPro/Scott -- very cool. Thanks for pointing that out. One of my current students was just asking last night about something like that because she doesn't want to use a prescription mask lens. Thanks... I hadn't seen these before.

 

[Kosh]

I also dive wearing disposable contacts. Haven’t lost one or had any problems. Just remember to keep a spare set around. For all my mask removal and replacement drills, I have kept my eyes closed. Others have said they can remove their masks and not lose their lenses; guess I ought to try that sometime.

Would love to get Lasik, but in the back of my mind, I think I’ll be the one that something gets screwed up on. Until I get over that, guess I’ll keep diving with my disposables.

 

[Padipro]

skye once bubbled...
I'm on a waiting list for the surgery and when they call I will have to go to Jacksonville, FL or Bethusna Maryland for the surgery. Can anyone tell me how long the recovery time is after surgery for driving, flying or diving, and what precautions are needed?

This is straight off the DAN website. They say one month but my doctor said 6 months.

Scott

Diving Medicine FAQs
Diving After Lasik Surgery


Q: How long should I wait before going back into the water after Lasik surgery and what other effects might there be?

A: The Lasik laser procedure is performed many thousands of times each year. Risks are reported to be minimal and improvement in vision is said to be considerable. The physician performing the procedure will provide you with recommendations for activity following Lasik surgery. In general, it's suggested that you can return to all of your normal activities without disrupting the healing process in two weeks. However there is no specific data on when it's safe to return to diving, nor has there been any research on the effects of a mask squeeze and the negative pressure it can create on an eye that has had this procedure.

Considering the lack of specific data, in uncomplcated cases, a conservative recommendation would be to wait an extra two weeks to allow the eye extra healing time.

As far as flying goes, we flew back to Ft. Lauderdale the next day. No restriction on flying as far as I was told.

 

[skye]

Padipro, could you see well enough to drive immediatley afterwards or do they cover your eyes for awhile? Also how much discomfort during and after?

 

[Padipro]

The whole procedure takes only about 15 to 20 seconds per eye and I went from 20/400 to 20/40 just that fast and as the days went by it improved to 20/20. When I laied down on the table I couldn't see the doctors face clearly even though he was right over the top of me but when I stood up 3 minutes later, except for a slight clowdyness, I could read the clock on the far wall.

They put nothing more then a very thin, clear contact in each eye to help the "Flap" heal, and we were out the door driving back to the hotel. They removed the contact first thing the next morning and everything was clear.

They gave us some goggles to wear both in the shower and to bed at night. They don't want any water getting in your eyes until they are healed and also don't want you to accidently rub your eyes while you sleep. I found that those jet ski water goggles worked best for the shower. They cover your eyes like a pair of swim goggles but not quite so tight and they seal like a scuba mask to keep the water out.

As for the discomfort...;-0 That about sums it up. LOL After the anistetic wears off it feels like you chopped a pound of onions, rubbed both hands in the juice and then rubbed each eye ball with the tip of all 10 fingers. They told us we couldn't sleep for at least 2 hours after the surgery, so for those first couple of hours it was hell. After that we slept for about 2 more hours and when we woke up the pain was gone. It feels bad at the time but after it's all over you realize it really wasn't that bad. It was painfull but not so bad you couldn't live through it. The funniest thing about it for me was the guy I went with was a real winp and I had to listen to him wine and cry like a baby for those first 2 hours. I guess you had to be there but picture a 47 year old man crying about how bad it hurts. WWWWWAAAAAA

All in all it's not that bad and after it's all over with you'll wish you'd done it sooner. Nothing like waking up in the middle of the night and being able to read the alarm clock on the other side of the room.

Scott

 

[DiverJP]

Atlas750, most of my diving experience in the past has been diving "blind", however, I recently began diving with disposable contacts which I also wear daily... I can finally see underwater! I have had absolutely no problems and highly recommend it. Just be prepared in the event of a lost contact, i.e. have a spare set of contacts or eyeglasses with you. Another option for you might be to get a prescription mask. I'm pretty sure Seavision makes one, and I believe other manufacturers do as well.

I'm on a waiting list for the surgery and when they call I will have to go to Jacksonville, FL or Bethusna Maryland for the surgery. Can anyone tell me how long the recovery time is after surgery for driving, flying or diving, and what precautions are needed?

Skye, for whatever it's worth in regards to diving after LASIK, while in commercial dive school, one of my classmates did a chamber dive about 3 days after having LASIK performed on her eyes. The Doc who did the surgery was her husband, so I'm guessing that his medical opinion was that the increased pressure would not be a problem. (I don't see why it would be, considering that the eyes are filled with fluid which doesn't compress... Hell, the hyperbaric O2 might even help the healing process. ) Note that this was a CHAMBER dive, and at no time was she in the water...