Wearing Contacts while swimming?

shifon9

Hi

I wear daily contacts for more social reasons and in work wear glasses. Im goin on holidays and will be goin to a couple of water parks. does anyone know if its ok to wear daily's for this. any one any experiences.

Misticles

no you cant wear lenses in water. theres bacteria in water that can cause you eye infections with your lenses in.

Squiggle

Discussed in this thread recently.

GalwayGirl1983

I've worn mine swimming lots of times and its fine, just close your eyes when you're underwater!! And maybe clean them soon after u get out.

Misticles

when you first get lenses you are explicitly told NOT to wear lenses in water!!
Anyone who does wear them is lookin for an infection!!!!

Point being, dont wear them in water!! Ya can get prescription goggles if your really that fussed

Squiggle

Misticles wrote: »

when you first get lenses you are explicitly told NOT to wear lenses in water!!
Anyone who does wear them is lookin for an infection!!!!

I was never told not to wear lenses swimming. In twenty years of doing so I have probably had conjunctivitis three or four times( which may or may not be related ). I have never had a serious eye infection - the risk of Acanthamoeba keratitis is extremely low with only about two cases reported per million contact lens wearers. From cibavision "Always remove lenses before swimming unless you are wearing goggles."

From allabout vision

Q: Can I swim with my soft contacts in? How will chlorine affect my contacts? — N.H., Virginia

A: I highly recommend you wear goggles if you swim with soft contacts on your eyes. Although not usually a problem, there are all kinds of nasty bugs living in swimming pools (and hot tubs as well). One of these creatures, called acanthameba, can cause horrible pain and damage to your eye, very often necessitating a corneal transplant. And the water can change the way your lenses fit, making them too tight and causing severe eye health problems.

So, either take them out for swimming or wear goggles. Better safe than sorry. — Dr. Dubow


Q: I wear glasses at this point but want to try contact lenses. I am in swimming and want to know if there are any contacts you can wear swimming that are not too expensive. If not, what should I do when I am swimming so I can see? — R.G., Texas

A: If you read the previous question about swimming in contacts, you will see that I recommended wearing goggles for safety. However, if you are going to wear contacts just for swimming, you can consider one-day lenses that are meant to be worn and thrown away without ever cleaning or disinfecting them.

They are really handy (and safe) for occasional wear, as well as being convenient and affordable. Vistakon, CIBA Vision and Bausch & Lomb all make one-day lenses. Ask your eyecare practitioner which is best for you. — Dr. Dubow

Paulie907

you can get prescription swimming goggles for most prescriptions, its a lot safer than worrying about infections, specsavers do them and you can get them on-line, i got some directvision2u.com a few months back, only cost around 25 euros.