Diving with contacts

[adjuster-jd]

I wore disposable soft contacts when diving in both fresh and salt water - never had any problems. Before I started diving, I wore them when swimming, snorkeling, amusement parks, etc. I always carried spare lenses just in case I lost one, but never needed the spare.

(I say "wore" since I had LASIK a week ago. Unfortunately, I can't dive for a month but no more contacts.......)

 

[miketsp]

Interesting that almost all the opinions here are in favour. I remember reading a similar thread on another board just a few years ago and it was full of warnings about the risks.

Just for info a couple of quotes:

Extract from BSAC TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS Information Sheet T.3

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CORRECTED VISION
Advice for divers who normally wear glasses or contact lenses.


To ensure the best and clearest view of the underwater world, those who regularly wear glasses or contact lenses are likely to require a mask which is optically corrected to suit their individual requirements.

Contact lenses can be worn when using a diving mask, but there is a risk of losing them. There are times when a mask may flood or be displaced - and the diver needs to open his / her eyes to recover and refit it. Also, the technique of clearing water from a flooded mask is a basic and essential skill which has to be learned, and it is usual to require trainees to keep the eyes open while practising it. Risk of losing the lenses is high.

Furthermore, it has been suggested that gas micro-bubbles could accumulate between the inside face of a contact lens and the eyeball when diving, possibly clouding vision and maybe causing damage the surface of the eyeball, though there is little factual evidence to bear this out. There are also reports of negative reactions from an accumulation of salts between lenses and the eye, which may cause irritation. All these reasons create a sound case for not using contact lenses while diving.

On the other hand, there are also numerous reports of trouble-free use from those who do regularly wear contact lenses - especially soft lenses - while diving. It also needs to be borne in mind that you can buy several sets of (disposable) soft contact lenses for the price of a mask with prescription lenses. It might be more economic to carry at least one spare set of contact lenses in your dive bag and bear the risk of occasional losses.
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Extract from other medical site:


It is important to keep in mind that not all contact lenses are suitable to wear during diving. RGPs and the old hard (PMMA) lenses have been known to "dig in" to the eyes below certain depths, because of pressure. Also, soft lenses can collect waterborne organisms, becoming contaminated and causing disease. This can happen in pools as well as fresh- and saltwater bodies. Your prescribing doctor must give specific permission for you to wear the lenses underwater, or damage to the eye can occur.

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And another contact lens supplier:

Contact Lens Wearers: If you wear contact lenses under your mask for diving, you need to make sure you blink a lot.

 

[jonnythan]

Those warnings all sound like they apply to hard lenses, but not to soft. Air bubbles in soft lenses? It's called blinking

 

[montyb]

I wear contacts but have never wore them diving - I have found that I can see much better under water than on the surface. Wanted to ask my doctor if the pressure at depth could round the eyeball and correct the problem??? Any thoughts out there.
Montyb

 

[wendledo1]

Hey all,

I wear glasses.... I am a +6.0 in the left eye and a +7.75 in the right! wow blind as a bat! hehehe

I thought of getting contacts for diving, I decided against it just for that reason of loosing them. Heck I had enough trouble with wearing them topside, I can imagine what it would feel like in the deep
I invested in a 180.00 perscription mask wich nobody could make for me in that high of an RX, I had to send my mask to New York to have a doctor there special grind lenses for my mask!

whatever your situation, you will do what you are most comfie with, dont take any less than what you are comfortable with.
As a new diver, I am sticking to that rule.

hope you do ok, enjoy your experences.

 

[Bretagne]

My husband needs a -11 correction for both eyes. He usually wear glasses, but for diving he uses soft lenses. The eye doctor told him it wa OK to open eyes with the lenses in the sea, few risks of losing them, but not in the pool, because microsopic critters there are more dangerous.

 

[JKSteger]

I too am one who wears soft contacts diving. I have never had a problem. I wear Focus Daily Disposible contacts. I bring a couple of extra sets with me on my dive trip so that in case I do loose one for whatever reason I can just "pop" a new pair of contacts in my eyes.

I also bring my glasses with me and usually leave them in the car. Worst case, I can just put on my glasses after the boat docks.

And I also purchased a mask that allows me to "insert" corrective lenses in them. I haven't used the corrective insert lenses for the mask but I have it just in case.

Bottom line...
I have no problem wearing soft contact lenses while diving.

JKS

 

[narcT]

I dive with them all the time, never a problem.

The only time I lost a lens was water skiing. I fell face forward, skiped across the water like a rock (on my face) and still only lost ONE contact. The other one was still in place :11:

So, I'm not to worried about losing one in a little current

 

[Daryl Morse]

I wear disposable soft contact lenses which I replace every month. I always dive wearing the lenses and I've had no issues with eye irritation whatsoever.

The only time I came close to losing a lense was during the underwater swim with no mask in a pool as part of the OW course. When I put my mask back on and cleared it, one lense rolled up under my eyelid.

Since my lenses are disposable, I keep the old ones as spares and use them for diving. I bring two pairs with me. That way, if I lose a lense, it won't matter.

 

[scubafool]

I have worn soft disposables for ~ 6 years now. I have dove 2 of those years.

I have lost lenses at work, at home, roughhousing with my son, rubbing my eyes in the morning, etc, etc. I have never lost one while diving, even though I regularily take off my mask & open my eyes to keep myself familiar with the "cold water on face while breating" sensation.

However, I always carry a spare set or three on dive trips.