Silly Question about Cruisers with contact lenses

[CraftyEC]

It's not a silly question at all!

 

Like nearly everyone else on here I wore (soft contact lenses) for many years and swam / showered / whatever in them. If swimming 'properly' rather than just messing about in a pool I wore goggles over the top, but not otherwise. I even continued to keep disposable lenses for swimming after I stopped wearing them everyday (unable to get good enough vision correction with any of the fancy lenses I tried, I had to go back to spectacles.) I never had any problems, but in the more recent years I used to discard the lenses after swimming.

 

The problem is that there is a very small, but very real, risk of a serious condition caused acanthamoeba keratitis, where a little parasite found in warm waters, damages the front of the eye. There is quite a good article here which gives more information.

 

So, think carefully about whether or not to use your lenses. To be honest, unless your swimming a lot you will probably be fine by keeping goggles on when your face is close to the water, and I don't think the odd splash is such a high risk.

 

Oh, and I'm a physician too!

[portagyplaya12]

I too wear soft lenses and dispose of them monthly. I've been told I should not swim with them but I've never had a problem in water. I do not open my eyes under water but other than that I just watch out for people splashing in my face and I always bring 1-2 spare pairs of lenses just in case. I'd rather bring a ton of spares then be blind for a week or more!