Contact Lenses and Theme Parks!

[dan123]

Originally Posted by spiya

Wouldn't listen to anyone from a certain big chain company! if you knew how they operate you would stay away! Very bad reputation in the industry (sell lots cheap & dont give a damn about your health) the optoms actually compete to see who can do the quickest tests! I know i sound negative but optitians train for many years and continue being trained and audited all the time. Your gp will refer you back to them because they are eye doctors! Trust them, they're not conmen. Im really not trying to start an arguement, its just frustrating when you do know what your talking about and everybody assumes your trying to con them! I really don't care about sales, i dont get commission. Please dont hate me lol!

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Optoms (Optometrists) are not eye doctors, an eye doctor is called an ophthalmologist.

However I do agree with a lot of what you are saying, and I don't think you deserved your recent flaming by stupet11. I started wearing contacts at 15 (nearly 25 years ago) and have always believed that I shouldn't swim with lenses in.

I use Systane before putting lenses in and find it makes wear more comfortable.

Dan

[dan123]

Originally Posted by stupet11

Do you have anything official to back this up with?

It's a very scary and not nice thing to say to people before they go on holiday and intend to go swimming with their contact lenses in, as they have always done.

I think we'd all have heard about it if as you say "you've got a couple of hours of unbearable pain and then you do go blind"

Here is the NHS safety guide to wearing contact lenses:

nhs.uk/Livewell/Eyehealth...enssafety.aspx

NOTE "Never wear your lenses while you're having a shower or going swimming (unless you use goggles)" (Source: NHS website)

So yes, if you go under water wearing contact lenses with your eyes wide open, you increase your chances of getting an infection. More than likely, your lenses will just wash away.

Please re-think you post spiya. I have reported it, as I think it is at best ignorant, and at worst evil scaremongering. If my optician said that to me, I would not be very happy - especially in the next breathe he suggested more expensive lenses.

You sound like an optician who is trying to frighten people into buying more expensive lenses, and such behaviour is disgusting.

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Hi stupet11, you ask if spiya has anything to back up his post...have a look here... you're not going to like it;

thelancet/journals/la...143-2/fulltext

and here

en.wikipedia/wiki/Acanthamoeba_keratitis

and here

allaboutvision/contac...-keratitis.htm

and here

bmj/cgi/content/extract/308/6937/1116

Dan

[Guest]

The only problem i get in Florida is with the journey over on the plane as my eyes get dry then. I always wear them for swimming, (I generally dont get my hair wet!) but I have disposables.

I have worn contact lenses for years and have never been told not to wear them swimming or when in the shower.

I used to wear one day acuvue (local opticians charged me £40 a month)but now wear daysoft lenses equivalent(£10 a month) and have regular check ups with my optician.

I can highly recommend disposables, no fussing around with them, and as you throw them away good for your eyes, less chance of getting an infection

[dan123]

Originally Posted by melandjake

The only problem i get in Florida is with the journey over on the plane as my eyes get dry then. I always wear them for swimming, (I generally dont get my hair wet!) but I have disposables.

I have worn contact lenses for years and have never been told not to wear them swimming or when in the shower.

I used to wear one day acuvue (local opticians charged me £40 a month)but now wear daysoft lenses equivalent(£10 a month) and have regular check ups with my optician.

I can highly recommend disposables, no fussing around with them, and as you throw them away good for your eyes, less chance of getting an infection

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I agree with you about dailies...it removes much of the infection risk, no messing with solutions and their price has dropped through the floor in recent years.

Even if you haven't been told to not wear them whilst swimming doesn't mean you should!

Dan

[Guest]

My bad on the eye doctor thing, i didn't mean it literally. Just that you should go to them for any eye problems and trust them, should have worded that one better! Im also not saying that cheaper lenses are bad, just that you should try the better quality lenses if you have a lot of discomfort, because they are worth the extra cost

[stupet11]

spiya - much more appropriate 2nd post. I 100% agree with you, and think it's a very worthwhile post to warn people to take proper care of their eyes / lenses.

dan123 - remember spiya posted this: "You really, really shouldn't wear contacts for swimming! I work in optics and this infection your optician told you about is true! If you get it you've got a couple of hours of unbearable pain and then you do go blind" I think I was justified in shooting that down in flames! If that was the case, there would be warning made by the NHS etc. Even Wickipedia doesn't say you will go blind in a coupel of hours!

The truth is, you can get nasty infections if you don't follow proper procedures with your contact lenses. And I am quite sure they could possibly lead to blindness if you don'r seek medical care.

But it's really not the case if you go swimming, and catch this infection, you'll be blind in a coupel of hours! Even the NHS site says it's fine as long as you wear goggles. So it is perfectly ok to wear contacts for swimming, as long as you wear goggles and/or don't go swimming around uderwater with your eyes open!

If you really do go blind after a couple of hours after going swimming Please find me official documentation that warn you that this is the case from a well known medical institution (eg, not wikepedia!).

[bex0309]

Originally Posted by tinkabella

The contacts i use are monthly ones but i also sleep in them and have a shower. The last two times i have gone to florida with only my contacts in and one spair pair.

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I also use the monthly all day all night lenses - no messing around with solution or cleaning. Just pop them in at the beginning of the month, you don't even feel like you have lenses in especially as there is no fumbling around on the nightstand in the morning for glasses or lenses - you just wake up and you can see!

I swim 5 days a week here in the UK and just wear goggles and have had no problems - like others have said, when I go to waterparks I don't wear goggles I just close my eyes on slides and everything is fine.

Mine are from Specsavers and I pay only £15.50/month and that includes all aftercare and appointments. I have been using them now for around 7/8 years and would heartily recommend them.

[hollypop]

Potentially very silly question ahead, but stick with me! I wear glasses every day all day and I like them, so don't want to make a permanent change to contacts, but I do want to get some for going to Florida. If I go to my opticians would they be able to order me just, say, a months worth of dailies rather than setting me up a direct debit for them. I suspect the answer to this is probably 'yes' but I just want to check before I make an appointment! Does anyone know roughly how much that might cost also?

[Guest]

Originally Posted by bex0309

I also use the monthly all day all night lenses - no messing around with solution or cleaning. Just pop them in at the beginning of the month, you don't even feel like you have lenses in especially as there is no fumbling around on the nightstand in the morning for glasses or lenses - you just wake up and you can see!

I swim 5 days a week here in the UK and just wear goggles and have had no problems - like others have said, when I go to waterparks I don't wear goggles I just close my eyes on slides and everything is fine.

Mine are from Specsavers and I pay only £15.50/month and that includes all aftercare and appointments. I have been using them now for around 7/8 years and would heartily recommend them.

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They sound fab - will ask about them when I go for my appt on Saturday. Will probs buy dailies for hol, but for the rest of the year they sound brilliant!

[dan123]

Originally Posted by hollypop

Potentially very silly question ahead, but stick with me! I wear glasses every day all day and I like them, so don't want to make a permanent change to contacts, but I do want to get some for going to Florida. If I go to my opticians would they be able to order me just, say, a months worth of dailies rather than setting me up a direct debit for them. I suspect the answer to this is probably 'yes' but I just want to check before I make an appointment! Does anyone know roughly how much that might cost also?

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That is not a silly question, years ago it wasn't really possible but now I can pop into Specsavers whenever I like and buy a pack of 30 lenses for £11, that's 15 pairs to me as both eyes have the same prescription.

I could probably source them much more cheaply online.

Dan