Contact Lenses

[Midnight]

I have recently taken the plunge and taken my hideously astigmatised eyes to Vision Express and challenged them to fit me with contact lenses.

I am still getting used to them but it is so weird having peripheral vision, I have never experienced that before!!

Anyhoo, the reason for this thread is to find out what experience there is out there for users of CL's during diving.

I am aware that it is not recommended for users of CL's to allow them to get wet, ie duing a mask flood, however I have never had one in over 11 years (just lucky I guess!).

I am also aware of the fact that some blurring occurs on ascent as small bubbles appear in the liquid between the CL and the eye but what I want to know is exactly what other people have experienced and how bad does this blurring get?

Any other tips also welcome.

Please don't be concerned that I will be using them in water before I am completely happy and comfortable with them, I won't.

Regards
Midnight

[hogen-deifar]

Well I only wear my CL for diving. Only once have I lost a lens. It 'popped' out whilst I was equalising and sat inside the mask, almost mocking me, throughout the dive. Very frustrating being able to see it sitting there and not being able to see outside the mask!

Other than that I don't even know I'm wearing them other than being able to actually see under water (viz allowing, of course)!

I've experienced nothing bad, just be careful on the surface if you're de-misting them! Take a few spare pairs just in case you do lose one so you are able to see on the next dive!

[JasonP]

Originally Posted by Midnight

I am also aware of the fact that some blurring occurs on ascent as small bubbles appear in the liquid between the CL and the eye but what I want to know is exactly what other people have experienced and how bad does this blurring get?

What sort of lenses are they?

I've been using soft lenses for years. I've never lost one diving. I have lost a few surfing. Splashes seem more likely to dislodge them than a mask flood.

The advice I've seen is that if you get them wet, you should throw them away. The lenses are a perfect breeding ground for all sorts of nasties. It's unlikely you'll have a problem but there are horror stories about people getting bad infections from things like camping ground showers, nevermind our polluted seas. So I use daily disposables.

Jason

[Midnight]

Originally Posted by JasonP

What sort of lenses are they?

Monthly disposables. As they were recommended as the most cost effective option.

Does not the cleaning / storage fluid supplied also get rid of the "nasties"?

Regards
Midnight

[Scubee]

I have worn daily disposables for years. I have never lost one diving, and have had my mask ripped of and all sorts. I don't wear them in the pool though, as the clorine tends to irritate. With dailies, if I lose one, no problem, there is always a spare pair in my kit.

I went for dailies because of the laziness factor, and the hygene. The monthlies may be slightly more cost effective, but how do you put a cost on the health of your eyes. i saw a documentry once which was about the nasties that grow in contacts, that was the day I went to dailies. (Actually, i went to glasses for about a week because I refused to put the CL's in my eyes again!

[Depth-junkie]

I use daily dissposables for diving and when i play football.

Not had any problem durring dives, and this includes long deep deco dives of 2hr plus.


The only thing i have noticed is that towards the end of the day they dry out and start to irratate your eyes a bit (after 7-8hrs of use), so normaly on the ride home



ATB
Gareth

[Lou]

I have dreadful astigmatism too and use soft monthly disposables - mostly for diving and watersports. Dailies are basically impossible to get on my prescription so not much choice there!

Never had the "bubbles" occur, never had an issue at all. I do use peroxide cleaner and storage case instead of the usual cleaner and seperate storage. This was recommended to me by the optician as a safer cleanse for bugs etc, given the potential for infection.

Also, you need to use the month-ish time lapse, rather than the 30 wears as the "month", and throw them away after that, so cost per wear is high if you only wear them for diving

[NotDeadYet]

I don't like monthly lenses for diving as i found that once you got a bit of salt water in them then they caused a bit of irritation for the rest of the month. I use daily disposables bought from the US as they are loads cheaper than here and it doesn't matter if you lose them. Works out about £6 a month per eye as opposed to about £12 a month here. You also save on not having solutions and avoid the lovely situation of putting un-neutralised peroxide in your eye

Opticians in this country are a total rip-off when you see how much they actually pay wholesale for frames, glass and contact lenses. The mark-up is huuuuuuuuuge. Makes dive shops look reasonable

Buy Contact Lenses Online at Lens.com ®

Cheers,

Stuart

[JasonP]

Originally Posted by Midnight

Monthly disposables. As they were recommended as the most cost effective option.

Does not the cleaning / storage fluid supplied also get rid of the "nasties"?

If you can get dailies for your prescription, the most cost effective option might be to order them from the US via the net. Or you could just get dailies for diving.

What sort of cleaning solutions? If it's a two step, peroxide based one, then that does kill most things. The one-solution-does-all isn't as effective at killing stuff off.

Jason

[nickb]

I use Acuvue daily disposable lenses and reuse them for up to a month with no problems. In fact I find them more comfortable on day 2 onwards after soaking them overnight. I've even slept in them on the odd occasion.

I've only ever lost one lens whilst diving - whilst on a course with Mark Powell! I can swim with my eyes open underwater without the lenses flushing out.

If you can get dailies in your prescription, buy a box for use whilst diving as losing a monthly lens would be expensive.