Are there any contact lenses you can swim in?

[IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads]

I've been shortsighted since my early teens. I was hoping to get lens replacement or laser surgery, it has r recently had a consultation with a surgeon who told me that I wasn't suitable for either. I won't say I'm not disappointed.

I used to swim most days, in a pool and outdoors. I'd love to be able to see when I swim. I have prescription goggles, many pairs over the years, but they all leak, steam up, get scratched ..... and I find the field of vision quite restricted.

Some my question is, are there any contact lenses you can swim in? I know there were always concerns about trapped water causing infections or lenses washing out, but I was wondering if contact lens technology might have changed in the last 20 years or so since I last wore them.

Thanks

I’ve worn lenses for 30 years and have always swam with them in. I shower with them in daily and often have a snooze for a couple of hours whilst wearing them.

daily disposable contacts. No problem.

Yes, there is a protozoa called acanthamoeba in UK freshwater which can cause a devastating corneal infection, which is difficult to diagnose and treat and extremely painful. Many people who get it end up with a corneal transplant and reduced vision and a disfigured eye.

Non-contact lens wearers occasionally get it, but they majority of people who do are contact lens wearers due to them being more likely to have an abrasion on the cornea where the acanthamoeba can get into it and also the lens trapping the microbe close to the eye.

The risk is significantly higher with monthly extended wear lenses as there is a higher incidence of abrasion and overnight there is less flushing action underneath the lens as you're not blinking. @Beefstew @MrsHamlet , I really wouldn't. I've only seen it a couple of times in my career, but it was awful for the patient on both occasions. Both ended up with grafts, poor vision and one of the women's grafts failed multiple times and she ended up with a prosthetic contact lens to partially cover the scarring.

The risk is very low if you use daily disposables and chuck them afterwards as a PP said. There did used to be a contact lens solution which would effectively kill it, but it's no longer available.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads did they say why you aren't suitable for surgery? One saving grace could be that very short-sighted people tend to get cataracts earlier 40s/50s so when you have those done, you'll be able to see in the distance after the op.

God, please do not listen to the people telling you to swim in extended wear or monthly contact lenses.

The first poster is right. There are no contact lenses suitable for swimming in. The greatest thing you can do to minimise risk (bar wearing prescription goggles/ daily disposable contact lenses under your goggles) is wear daily disposable contact lenses and throw them away when you get out of the pool.

I also think it’s worth googling acanthamoeba keratitis.

I have a friend who recently started wearing lenses you wear at night instead. So you wake up with your lenses re-molded and can see during the day.

He said it was a tricky transition as to start with his prescription would gradually increase over the afternoon and evening, but now they are great.

They are ortho-k lenses, might be worth asking the optician?

I wear dailies, swim then take them out later. Never had a problem.

I only swim on holiday, so I take dailies with me. I wear sunglasses in the pool/sea too, because its too bright, so it's not like my eyes are going underwater. It's mainly play swimming.

I use daily disposables and mostly swim in the evening. Have swam with them for 20 years and just discard when out of the pool and use glasses to drive home. If I swim in the morning I discard after use and put a fresh pair in. Never had any kind of issue.

I am very short sighted. These are the best Goggles I’ve ever had. Obviously they fog up etc over time but they are super comfy and if you keep them stored safely they won’t scratch up.

www.prescription-swimming-goggles.co.uk/products/swimmi-2-swimmi2

I can't see without lenses or glasses - extended wear quite literally changed my life. I understand the risks, never miss a check up and give my eyes at least a few days off every month.

Please don’t ever swim/ sleep/ shower in contact lenses. There are prescription goggles you can use.

I had keratitis and I can assure you that it is terrifyingly painful - it is so sore that you can’t bear any light in your eye, literally feels like someone stabbing you in the eye. I had to have drops on the hour for two days initially and then reduced to every two hours etc, and was told to make sure that I did this if I didn’t want to lose my eyesight.

Luckily the scar is left of centre on my cornea so my vision ONLY deteriorated by 1.0 in that eye. They think I got it from a cat hair. Please take eye health seriously.

I agree @Sheepreallylikerichteabiscuits although I wasn’t aware of the risk until I had the consultation a couple of weeks ago. I’m not going to go down the surgery route, which is why I was asking about contacts.

I've always used my daily disposable lenses with goggles with swimming on holiday, I don't bother for normal swim training and I never bothered with prescription goggles either for the reasons already given.

Tbh I don't think you'd fit enough water in any type of contact lens to be able to swim in it. They are quite small.

Stick to a swimming pool or open water.

Fun fact

These kind of lens are based on the fact that in King Henry VIIIs court they'd wear weighted coins on their eye lids to sleep the night before a hunt so as to "improve" their vision for the following day

Teenaged DD wears daily disposable contacts for watersports. As soon as she's off the water and washed her hands, she removes them and puts her glasses on. She's still at an age when her prescription changes every six months so if it's not overly windy or rainy, or the sun isn't bright, she will wear her old glasses instead of contacts for doing watersports. At some point in the future, a decent pair of prescription sunglasses would be useful but there are very few women's wraparound styles and her head isn't big enough for the men's styles.

I normally wear the type you can sleep in but when on holiday I switch to disposable. I use eye drops in between going in the water and then throw away and use an eye bath when I return to the room for the early evening. Seems excessive and wasteful at first but it's actually not that expensive.

sadly not! which is so bloody frustrating if like your are a water mad person…

I tend to use disposable lenses and a really good pair of goggle, I wash my hands and take them out as soon as I’ve finished I have never had an issue but I have heard of some horror stories Occasionally I wear my old glasses and a clip so if I fall in the water I don’t lose them, but my vision isn’t fab as they are a few years old.

prescription goggle are expensive and not worth it I’ve never actually found a decent pair

@3sacharm

That's really interesting! Thank you

A couple of months ago I didn't even know they existed and thought they must be brand new, not Henry VIII level old! 😁

I wear gas permeable lenses normally but daily disposables for swimming and throw them away after swimming. That said I don’t deliberately get water in my eyes. I also don’t shower in lenses since a friend’s daughter had a serious eye infection after swimming (suspected parasite but wasn’t - still required a year of treatment under Moorfields).

@CatSpeakForDummies

You're right in that the "modern" technology of weighted lens hasn't been around that long though. I've been wearing contact lenses on/off for about 15 years now (don't wear them anywhere near so much since lockdowns and WFH and I think glasses actually make me look younger 😂)

I learnt the fact from my very first optician I saw for contact lens at Boots - he said weighted overnight lens testing was largely in its infancy and wouldn't be widely available for several years (this was 15 years ago)

I take my toddler son swimming and do not feel safe doing so without being able to see.

My optician told me that there is no risk free way of swimming in contacts but if I felt I must do it, I have to remove my lenses immediately once I’m out of the pool.

You can end up with some very nasty eye infections that can cause permanent damage, so I guess you need to weigh the risks.

I am only comfortable doing the above because they are daily disposables, I wouldn’t do it if they were reusable lenses.

I used to swim with them but avoided getting my face wet etc but I've been put off by those stories of bacteria so I tend to struggle and not see.

I take old glasses to poolside

@underneaththeash Can I ask you please if it is a risk to swim in prescription goggles?
I gave up swimming recently as I’m -14 and once I heard that you should not swim in contacts (mine are dailies) I was too worried to go in the water.
I can only swim comfortably with my head in the water !

Daily disposables (with goggles) and bin them as soon as you finish swimming.