Contact lenses and diving

[J-L]

Im a sports diver who is also shortsighted.

At the moment I wear contact lenses (daily disposable) when diving, and have had no problems, however I was recently told something about contact lenses being affected by pressure etc.

I know you can get prescription masks, and im not so blind that I cant dive without contacts or glasses, but i much prefer being able to see, and not being dependant on an expensive mask. I've never had any problems with water and my contacts, but Im slightly worried if contatcs are affected by pressure.

Does anyone wear contacts when diving/ know of any issues regarding wearing contatcs when diving???

cheers

jl

[judithbodkin]

Im a sports diver who is also shortsighted.

At the moment I wear contact lenses (daily disposable) when diving, and have had no problems, however I was recently told something about contact lenses being affected by pressure etc.

I know you can get prescription masks, and im not so blind that I cant dive without contacts or glasses, but i much prefer being able to see, and not being dependant on an expensive mask. I've never had any problems with water and my contacts, but Im slightly worried if contatcs are affected by pressure.

Does anyone wear contacts when diving/ know of any issues regarding wearing contatcs when diving???

cheers

jl

Quite a few of my friends wear contact lens when they are diving and haven't
had any problems.:)

Plus you can also buy from a good dive shop lens that you can place in your
mask that work very well. They are something like £25.00 approx our D.O.
uses them and has been quite happy.:)

[Mike Halligan]

Im a sports diver who is also shortsighted.

At the moment I wear contact lenses (daily disposable) when diving, and have had no problems, however I was recently told something about contact lenses being affected by pressure etc.

I know you can get prescription masks, and im not so blind that I cant dive without contacts or glasses, but i much prefer being able to see, and not being dependant on an expensive mask. I've never had any problems with water and my contacts, but Im slightly worried if contatcs are affected by pressure.

Does anyone wear contacts when diving/ know of any issues regarding wearing contatcs when diving???

cheers

jl

I've dived with many users of contact lenses, soft and hard. They say there is an added advantage that a swift ascent is made visible by gas bubbles behind the lens!

I've tried the stick-on lenses that Judith mentions and I guess they are OK until you instruct. They do not, however, stay put through mask removal drills and are very difficult to find in a swimming pool! :(

My personal solution has been to fit a prescription lens to one side of my mask (to read guages) and it works very well indeed. Same price as a pair of plastic ones, and permanent. Works for me. :D

Mike

[Tony Dwyer]

Im a sports diver who is also shortsighted.

At the moment I wear contact lenses (daily disposable) when diving, and have had no problems, however I was recently told something about contact lenses being affected by pressure etc.

I know you can get prescription masks, and im not so blind that I cant dive without contacts or glasses, but i much prefer being able to see, and not being dependant on an expensive mask. I've never had any problems with water and my contacts, but Im slightly worried if contatcs are affected by pressure.

Does anyone wear contacts when diving/ know of any issues regarding wearing contatcs when diving???

cheers

jl

I've been using prescription lens masks for many years and have never had a problem.
In recent years I have also often used disposable contact lenses, with absolutley no bother at all.
I prefer them when driving my Zodiac as they don't become impenatrable in spray. :)

As I understand it, disposable lenses contain lots of water and don't compress much, if at all. I have not noticed any change in their performance at depth.

[Ben Thompson]

Daily disposables are fine- there's a lot of people around who use them down to silly depths with no problem. Gas permeable lenses are a no-no though, as although they're gas permeable, they're not fast enough, so when your cornea off-gasses on ascent, the gas gets stuck behind the lens. Best case scenario here is that the lenses fog up, worst case is you damage the front of your cornea with the bubbles.

Hope that helps,

[ChristianG]

My personal solution has been to fit a prescription lens to one side of my mask (to read guages) and it works very well indeed. Same price as a pair of plastic ones, and permanent. Works for me. :D

Mike

Exactly as I do it Mike and that's been the case now for some twenty (sob) years.

I had the usual "age" problem of having to read with extended hands, as it were, roughly when I hit 45, and so contacts do not work for me. My solution was to get my eye bloke to put a higher than needed lens inside the left mask lens for gauge reading and a bit of magnifying for really close up stuff (that I might want to take a pic of).

I've been known to don my mask on the boat if some close up repairs or fixes are required.

Cheers,

Christian

[ardhill]

I am playing with the idea of contacts myself, and have a few pairs of daily disposables sitting in front of me right now. My optician is (was) a diver himself for years and says he has quite a few clients that use daily lenses for scuba diving. He has no problems at all with divers using daily disposables.

I am thinking of contacts as I haven't yet found a mask that fits all of the criteria below:

(1) Takes prescription lenses
(2) That fits my face (I have a slim face)
(3) That gives me a descent visual range (eg. Cressi Big Eyes or Tusa Viewtrek type range)

My sight is only slightly short (-1.5 left & right) so I don't use any sort of prescription ATM, but wanted to try a prescription, to see if they would improve the viz :D

[J-L]

Thanks people - a great help!

ardhill - my prescription is only -1.5 and -1.75, but i found that the difference wearing contacts made was amazing - especially at the surface when you are looking for the surface cover on surfacing!!

cheers again!!:D

jl

[ardhill]

ardhill - my prescription is only -1.5 and -1.75, but i found that the difference wearing contacts made was amazing - especially at the surface when you are looking for the surface cover on surfacing!!
Ah, but there is still so much messing about putting them in and getting them out - well there is with me anyway. I need a device that holds your eyes open for you. The sort of thing they have for eye surgery - anyone know if a home version of such a device exists?

[Hamish]

Hi JL,

I took up underwater video as an added addition to my diving but had a problem as the prescription lenses I had in my mask which were required for reading my guages did not allow good clarity looking into the viewfinder of the video housing due to the angle. This was because of the limited field of view.

So I went to see my optician who is also a diver and this is the diving prescription she came up with based on her knowledge of water refraction and as an optician.

My normal prescription for Glasses is: Right Dist -0.50 Near +2.25 Left Dist -0.25 Near +2.25

Diving prescription using contact lenses: Right +0.5 Left +1.25.

This allows for both all round clarity and close up for my guages and video viewfinder (dont ask me how it works). I have also never had any problems, even when clearing my mask when fogged up.

On the surface my vision is ok for close up but slightly blurred at distance, but not to the extent to be a nuisance.

Oh yes and they are daily use ones.

Have a talk with your optician.

regards

Hamish

[SteW]

I wear the 30 day, night and day contacts, and have had no problems with them when diving.

[J-L]

paul,

the more you think about it, the harder it gets!!

just hold open, aim and hope for the best!! (ok so its a bit more than just that, but that usually works for me!)

thanks again people!!

jl

[ardhill]

just hold open, aim and hope for the best!! (ok so its a bit more than just that, but that usually works for me!)
Yep, that's just what I do. But after the 20th time of closing my eye on the lens it gets a bit frustrating :(

[Scary Monster]

Try a stiff drink or two, you eyelids start to respond slower......

Best used for learning rather than a long term solution though!

[J-L]

Especially if you're then going diving!

keep trying!! ;)

[Fran Duinker]

Hi,
I have a stigmatism in both eyes, which means my eyes aren't round but rudgy ball shaped, and one is eye is short slighted and the other is long sighted, so contact lenses have been a God send for diving.
They're torric (weighted at the bottom so they stay the right way up in the eye) and monthly disposables, they work fine, They've been down to serious depths and I haven't had a problem. If I'm doing long dives (90 minutes +) I do take them out after diving to give my eyes a rest.
It means I can read my guages without having either to hold them to within inches of my right eye or on a long pole for my left eye!
Good lucjk with them.
Cheers
Fran

[NickMcV]

Wearing the lenses will let you see how bad the viz is!!!!

I'm about -1.75 both eyes, I don't bother with lenses for most UK diving, but wear daily disposables abroad. This also takes care of the lens hygine problem on live-aboards!

[NickMcV]

Funnily enough, I found that wearing gas-permeable lenses stopped me getting hangovers.

I reason it like this - after the first few pints, hot smoky pub, body starting to dehydrate, economises on secretions, tears dry up, eyes start to itch.

Solution? drink a pint of water - 5 mins later, eyes fine - back to the beer.

Repeat as necessary until closing time -

Result - spendid evening, and the body has remained hydrated enough to flush out the excess poisons so you feel OK in the morning.

This is the same principle as drinking water before you go to bed, but the contact lenses are the 'early-warning' device, and having the water during the evening seems to work better - plus there's less chance of having to get up during the night!!!

Or, I could be talking a load of cobblers.......

Downside is, I've gone back to wearing glasses (too lazy for the contacts) and so I get hangovers again.....................

[ardhill]

Anyone have problems with contacts coming out when your mask comes off or floods?

One evening when I was having yet another frustrating time taking the lenses out, I thought "eye bath with optrex and wash them out!"

Na, the lenses still wouldn't come out so I ended up going back to shoving the thing about my eye for another while before being able to grab it.

I was thinking, if there aren't any problems with loosing them in the water, then maybe I could use the monthly lenses? Only once in and once out a month :D

[Taff Griffiths]

Hi

I dive with contact lenses all the time as a matter of practability, I hate faffing about with glasses!!!!!

In my case there are two drawbacks which I choose to live with;

1. As I am to stingie to buy verifocal lenses I must read my gauges at a distance (arms legnth). Checking my trainees or buddies gauges is not a problem.

2. On rare occasions, especially in cold conditions, they fog over as they can not off gas quickly enough. At depth there is nothing you can do about it, but on the surface I just take them out then put them back immediately, a skill to be practiced on a RHIB!!!

Hope this helps.

Regards

[ardhill]

2. On rare occasions, especially in cold conditions, they fog over as they can not off gas quickly enough. At depth there is nothing you can do about it, but on the surface I just take them out then put them back immediately, a skill to be practiced on a RHIB!!!
What sort of lenses are they Taff?

[Taff Griffiths]

What sort of lenses are they Taff?

I believe they are Acuview soft lenses fortnighlty replacable ones. Nice and comforatble to wear no real problems with diving with them apart for the rare occasion they do fog over under V cold conditions normally at the end of a dive, but it is not such to abort a dive or I can not see my gauges.

My optician (non diver) when presented with this querk could not realy explain it. After a lengthy discussion we could only put it down to the lenses not off gassing quickly enough or they are fogging over because of the heat differencial. The wifes explanation is, I am just wierd!!

Regards

[NickMcV]

The Daily/Monthly/3 Monthly soft lenses are much biger than the old hard gas permeables, so don't tend to pop out in the water - best to shut your eyes if removing a mask under water, so that the flush of water doesn't dislodge them - but then you can open your eyes OK without loosing them. My partner wears her previous 3 monthly batch for diving and the current ones for on land & keeps cycling them.
My Optician has allowed me to purchase 1 day lenses without having to have the expensive contact lens examination, based on the fact that I used to wear GP lenses and now only wear the soft lenses when diving abroad - this brought the 'occasional wear' costs down to a reasonable level.

On the lens-stuck-to-the-eye syndrome - yes, Been there, done it, eaten the T shirt... The answer is yet again drink some water and wait 5 - 10 mins then try again - worked for me, and didn't end up with raw gritty eyes like I did if I tried to force it.

[J-L]

Ive spoken with my optician before about swimming with contacts, and he recommended that I shouldnt swim in them (ie exposed to the water constantly) because of the risk of water getting behind the lense, and bacteria taking up residence there, and thus casuing infection! - all very nice!
I wouldnt recommend the monthly permanent contacts therefore, because of the temptation to leave them in, and not give the eye and it's enzymes a chance to act on any bacteria stuck behind the contact.

Your choice though!

Nick - nice idea about the water drinking - might just have to give it a go some time!!:rolleyes:

cheers
jl

[ardhill]

At the moment, I am really fishing for all the options I have. I certainly am not going to do any of them without the advice from my optician as he was a diver, and I am not talking a novice either. So, I trust his understanding of the issues involved in diving with contact lenses. He also has a number of other clients who are divers, so that helps too. (He is happy with daily disposables BTW)

Anyway, at the moment, the option that I would prefer to happen, is that I can use the daily disposables. There are a number of reasons for this, but to make it work, I really do have to become much more proficient at putting them in and taking them out. Though, I can only practice so much, as each time I do it now, my eyes are red and sore.

Thanks for all your help and thoughts.

[J-L]

Well Im glad to hear that your optician is ok with DD's!

I find that I build up a routine for putting the contacts in - much more reassuring, and stick to it -whatever. Also make sure that your finger is not too wet, and wont 'let go' of the contact when you place it in your eye! - right pain otherwise!!

I guess you've heard this all before, but whatever - the less you think about it (despite all the instructions), the easier it is - trust me!! Just sit down with a stack of contacts when you're fresh, and practiceunti it all goes to plan, easily!!

Good luck - itll come some time!!

jl

[Samuelagaray]

I don't see why not. Just be careful not to get too comfortable and forget they're in when you take the goggles out. I swim all the time in mine without goggles, but very careful about opening my eyes. I've had them pop out even in the shower.

[TrevorB]

I have a prescription lens mask +2 means I am long sighted, so I can see distance but not my gauges without it, ( long sighted is an old age problem) I still carry glasses if I forget you will see me at Capenwray in the coffee bar wearing a mask to write up log books. I think long sighted prescriptions are a little more expensive as they often have to be ordered, so I keep my mask round my neck as I cannot afford to lose it

[jennyatkins]

I've been diving in daily disposables too. They are the most reliable, and most importantly you can just get rid of them after you're done diving. At the beginning I also had troubles putting them on, but don't worry, you will learn :)
I just tend to look up while I put the contact lens on, this way your eye doesn't feel 'distressed' and you're not touching a pupil. I hope that helps...

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