Wearing Glasses/Contacts

I wear my contacts while swimming out of necessity. Without my contacts, my vision is approx. 20/400. I wear the 1-2 week disposables so if my goggles leak I will just move to the next pair. No great economic loss. The eye Dr. is actually the one who advised me that contacts are porous and will absorb water from wherever they are exposed and that it could possibly infect the eye. I have been swimming with them for over 5 years now and have never had a problem we could trace directly back to the water. PS. I swim in pools, lakes and even Lake Michigan. I also jet-ski with contacts but never without goggles for the same reasons.

I swam as a kid in the "BG" (before goggles) era and I was VERY nearsighted. I just did my best to learn how people walked and what colors they were wearing because I could never see them. When I took up Masters swimming...at the ripe old age of about 49....I tried swimming with my contacts. They were the hard contact type, since the soft, disposable types didn't correct my vision well enough. I used to wear them under my goggles. I never had a problem with infections. I was worried that I would lose them when I dove so I tried not wearing them at my first meet. It was okay until I got up on the wrong block because I couldn't see the number written on the side. Very embarrassing! I decided I needed to see so I wore my contacts after that...until I almost lost them at the State meet when my goggles slipped as I dove in. Finally I just went and got laser surgery. I didn't correct 20/20 but I see MUCH better and can even pass the drivers test without corrective lenses now. I would suggest considering the surgery if you are a blind as I was!:cool:

Keifer swim retailer (@ www.keifer.com) has some reasonably priced corrective goggles that work great for everyday swimming. Lane 4 (@ www.lane4.com) has some good corrective goggles I use for competition. ? for everyone out there - I saw one person mentioned corrective surgery for lazy eye. Was that lazer surgery? Just curious who has had lazer correction? Does is keep you out of the pool for a period of time after surgery?

I wasn't able to get the "Lasik"; the Lasik is pretty quick...you just go in and they slice a section in the top layer of your cornea and hold it up using a suction apparatus...then they resurface the lens so the refraction corrects your vision...and replace the section of the cornea back on top of the lens. Most people say they see really well on the way home from the surgery. It's an "outpatient" procedure these days so you don't have to be admitted to a hospital or anything like that. Instead of the Lasik, I got something along the lines of "keretectomy" (if there are any ophthalmologists online they can set me straight) because the angle of my cornea/lens was too steep and they were afraid the suction device wouldn't work too well. The procedure I got involved removing the top (epithelial) layer of the cornea with a laser and then resurfacing the lens. The epithelial layer then had to regenerate on its own...so it took longer for my vision to correct. I also had to have each eye done separately. I was out of the water about 2 weeks or so for each eye...but they were about a month apart. With Lasik you can do both eyes at the same time and I think it's about 2 weeks. I'm glad I did it.:)

Wow, I have never given any thought to wearing my contacts while surfing or swiming. However, I have disposables and only a slight correction. I even surfed in red tide conditions with contacts. Although, I did dispose of them when I was finished surfing. I figured if I could barely breath after 30 minutes it would be a good idea to ditch them. I understand that they can absorb water, germs, etc., but I simply close my eyes if I don't have goggles on when I go under water. I do the same if my goggles are leaking; I will close my eyes, stop and adjust my goggles before continuing my swim. In ten years, I have yet to have any eye infections or other ill effects. But then again, I do dispose of my contacts every 2 to 3 months. Hook'em Blue

I always swim with my contacts. I had hard lenses for many years and never had any problem. I just switched to night and day soft lenses. I am supposed to dispose of them once a month. I am still on the first pair but don't notice a difference as far as swimming goes. If I didn't wear my contacts under my goggles, I would not be able to see the pace clock. Heck, I would probably run into the wall at the end of each length...:)

I had Lasik surgery 2 years ago and it is phenomenal to be able to see the walls and my competition. The best part is being able to see my times on the wall during meets. Before the surgery, I would practice with my contacts and use goggles. In meets, I just went with naked, blind eyeballs since I was afraid to lose my goggles on the start. Then for backstroke, I would put my contacts back in and use goggles. What a hassle. By the way, I had to stay out of the water one week after surgery (did both eyes at the same time), and was cautioned not to let anyone kick me while swimming. That earned me my own lane at practice. :)