How do I dive with glassess?

[KC_Scubabunny]

Originally posted by Stance
Tink I will try to get me a pair of trial contacts for the time being....

Stance,

If you are not normally a contact lens wearer, I would give your eye a few days to get used to them before you wear them for diving. I think my eye doctor recommended adding two hours a day while I got used to them so it takes a week or so to be able to wear them a full day. You are not going to want to worry about putting them in and taking them out on a moving dive boat.

I got prescription inserts for my mask in January and it cost about $70 at my local dive shop. It was well worth it and made my underwater photography much better.

I will dive with contacts in fresh water but in salt water, if you get any in your eyes, you have to pitch your contacts. They don't hold up under saltwater.

A warning! I have found that my prescription mask does not assist me very well in diving at night. I have night vision issues with halos and the prescription lenses in my dive mask do not accomodate night vision issue. If your vision is worse at night, I would be careful until you test out snorkeling or in shallow water.

KC_Scubabunny

 

[Stance]

Originally posted by KC_Scubabunny


Stance,

If you are not normally a contact lens wearer, I would give your eye a few days to get used to them before you wear them for diving. I think my eye doctor recommended adding two hours a day while I got used to them so it takes a week or so to be able to wear them a full day. You are not going to want to worry about putting them in and taking them out on a moving dive boat.

I got prescription inserts for my mask in January and it cost about $70 at my local dive shop. It was well worth it and made my underwater photography much better.

I will dive with contacts in fresh water but in salt water, if you get any in your eyes, you have to pitch your contacts. They don't hold up under saltwater.

A warning! I have found that my prescription mask does not assist me very well in diving at night. I have night vision issues with halos and the prescription lenses in my dive mask do not accomodate night vision issue. If your vision is worse at night, I would be careful until you test out snorkeling or in shallow water.

KC_Scubabunny [/QUOTE

Drat! I thought I could juz pop the lenses on straight away and go for a dive....;-0

 

[O-ring]

Drat! I thought I could juz pop the lenses on straight away and go for a dive....

You may be able to if you can get them in...have you ever worn lenses before? It is a PITA to get them in the first time, but you never know...some people are really easily acclimated to lenses and others aren't. If you don't have the time or resources to do any of the other options, it may be worth a shot.

 

[Scubarescuepd]

Just wondering what if any is there an effect on the pressure in your eyes during the use of contact lens ?

anyone with a medical background or experience with this please advise. I've always considered contact lenses a risk, hell maybe i'm wrong but i do value my eyes...

 

[O-ring]

but i have been wearing them for years (about 10 now) and have never had a problem. I wear them snorkeling and diving and pretty much everywhere else except the local pool.

No problems to report yet. If they start to feel funny, I toss them and switch to another pair. If you order online, the 2 week disposables are dirt cheap anyway...

 

[sea nmf]

Regarding an old pair of glasses in the mask:

I mean OLD. The gigantic ones that crammed in there so they did not move around. Not everyone has a pair of these hanging around. It wasn't pretty but it worked for her.

 

[Weezle]

I have been wearing contacts since I was 13 - I am almost 30 now - I have been diving for three years now and just make sure I have an extra set topside, in case I lose them.

I have even swam underwater with my eyes open, and haven't lost them, but of course, that isn't recommended....

As others have said, just make sure you are used to them before diving...because the definitly are a PITA to work with at first...


Peace.

 

[Butch103]

go with the pop in lenses if you can.......I personally use them to great success...........and they are inexpensive.......

 

[scuberd]

my aunt did this, and it seem to work:

if you have a pair of old glasses, the kind you don't want to wear anymore, pop out the lenses and attach them to the inside of your mask with silicon caulk. it won't be pretty, but it should help you see

 

[AllenG]

Weezle offered some valuable advice that warrants some emphasis, courtesy of the Department of Experience:

If you are going to dive with contacts, be sure to take a spare pair along with you!

Having lost a contact 2x in over 30 years of wearing lenses, I never gave any considration to the possibility that I might ever again lose a lense. So wasn't I annoyed when I lost one while out on a dive boat during a Bay Islands trip. As it happens, 17 years earlier when I had last lost a lens, I placed the remaining lens in a flat case in my wallet and had been carrying it around just in case of an emergency. To my amazement, it was the correct lens (left eye) and the remainder of the vacation was saved! My opthamologist friends would no doubt cringe re bacteria on the lens, etc., but, hey, we're talking about salvaging a remaining 7 days of diving!

If you are using lenses when you dive, please take this wisdom to heart. Remember, wisdom is gained through experience, and experience is generally gained only because you lacked wisdom.