reefsong
Guest
You didn't mention what type of contact lenses you have, but I'll be happy to share my own experience.
For years I was afraid to wear and thus possibly lose my very expensive and hard to obtain soft contact lenses underwater. I had the eye doctor make up a prescription mask which I used quite successfully for several years.
Technology progressed eventually allowing me to start wearing soft disposable lenses so I didn't have the fear of losing them as they were quite easy to replace (it's a Bausch & Lomb toric lens). Since then I've been diving quite comfortably with the soft lenses but bring spare lenses as well as the old prescription mask with me when I'm diving.
I have not experienced the new onset photsensitivity that you've described. BUT, my husband has, and his own experience might be of interest. He has the hard, gas permeable lenses and initially he did very well with them in the water. Then he started noticing a creeping onset and increased photsensitivity and went to the eye doctor for an evaluation.
I was concerned that he might have scratches on the lenses themselves causing an increased tearing and sense of irritation, and that this in turn might be causing him to experience micro-abrasions of the cornea (the exterior surface of the eye).
It turned out that the problem was in fact a new eye solution product he'd changed to in the weeks leading up to his mentioning his symptoms to me. The lens solution was leaving a small, but increasing chemical and protein deposit on the surface of the lens. These deposits were so stubborn that they required the eye doctor to strip and polish the lenses to get it off. (My husband had previously tried to use a standard OTC lens cleaner he'd purchased on his own with no success).
Since then my husband has had no further photosensitivity and he is now extremely careful about the specific eye product labels of the lens solutions that he purchases.
So you might want to try out a few of the OTC cleaners available to clean your lenses at home. It's certainly an easy first step to take. But if the problem persists, I'd strongly suggest that you find your way to an eye doctor for an exam. Very precious commodity, our eyesight.
For years I was afraid to wear and thus possibly lose my very expensive and hard to obtain soft contact lenses underwater. I had the eye doctor make up a prescription mask which I used quite successfully for several years.
Technology progressed eventually allowing me to start wearing soft disposable lenses so I didn't have the fear of losing them as they were quite easy to replace (it's a Bausch & Lomb toric lens). Since then I've been diving quite comfortably with the soft lenses but bring spare lenses as well as the old prescription mask with me when I'm diving.
I have not experienced the new onset photsensitivity that you've described. BUT, my husband has, and his own experience might be of interest. He has the hard, gas permeable lenses and initially he did very well with them in the water. Then he started noticing a creeping onset and increased photsensitivity and went to the eye doctor for an evaluation.
I was concerned that he might have scratches on the lenses themselves causing an increased tearing and sense of irritation, and that this in turn might be causing him to experience micro-abrasions of the cornea (the exterior surface of the eye).
It turned out that the problem was in fact a new eye solution product he'd changed to in the weeks leading up to his mentioning his symptoms to me. The lens solution was leaving a small, but increasing chemical and protein deposit on the surface of the lens. These deposits were so stubborn that they required the eye doctor to strip and polish the lenses to get it off. (My husband had previously tried to use a standard OTC lens cleaner he'd purchased on his own with no success).
Since then my husband has had no further photosensitivity and he is now extremely careful about the specific eye product labels of the lens solutions that he purchases.
So you might want to try out a few of the OTC cleaners available to clean your lenses at home. It's certainly an easy first step to take. But if the problem persists, I'd strongly suggest that you find your way to an eye doctor for an exam. Very precious commodity, our eyesight.
