Will I go blind?? (Page 2)

Thank you for the info on swimming with contacts. I do that all the time and will remember to take them out now before I swim. But what do you do in races? I could swim with prescription goggles and maybe keep them on into T1 to find my way but what do you do on the bike and run? Do you wear your glasses? I would have to get a different, more sturdy kind for sure.

I got a pair of these, seal REALLY good, and keep the water from rushing up my nose.  Nose clips kept falling off... so I got this mask...

http://www.joediveramerica.com/page/JDA/PROD/msk/5095

Good luck...

Yeah, it's a pain, and the risk of infection is pretty low, but the infections that you can get, especially in open water swims are very severe and can truly be blinding.

I used to go blind (i.e no correction) up to T1 and put on my prescription sunglasses for the bike and run. Also understand that I have only done a few sprints with pool swims so it was not a big deal. Now that I am planning on doing longer distances when I get back, I will use the prescription goggles and wear them to T1. Might look a bit dorky, but I have never let that stop me from doing anything!

Of course, the best option of all is Refractive Surgery. I, personally cannot get it done as my corneas are too thin and my prescription too thick (A bit ironic as I have completed a fellowship in cadvanced corneal surgery and refractive surgery!)

And I am not soliciting patients either. I am an Army Ophthalmologist so I cannot take care of anyone who is not an Army soldier or dependent!

In the 70's??  You're blaming red eyes on SWIMMING??  Really!  ha ha!

Darn, I was going to suggest some glue.  Beat me to it.

Maybe put a bead of silicone around the gaskets on a cheap pair to see if it could fill in a gap you are getting leaks from. (Let it dry to form a thicker seal, not to glue it one.)

Seriously though, I think you COULD glue on goggles, but I think you'd be running an entire race with them on too. (And SuperGlue would be a BAAAAAAAAAAAAD idea that close to eyes.)

I think you actually could try some cosmetic or theatric glue/latex of some type.

 

hmm if i get a mask does that mean that i can get a tank of air too please?? :-P

Funny : ) 

Not to hijack again, but since my corneas are less than 400 microns thick, no LASIK for me, and with a contact lens correction of -8.0 and -9.0, I'm fairly blind without contacts....what is your opinion of ICL?  Considering that with my bonus next year, since it is REAL expensive.

Edited by kagoscuba 2010-04-25 8:44 PM

LOL

My eyes are similar to yours and surgery is also not an option.  I didn't know that there were prescription goggles that would accommodate people like you and me. 

I had never heard that about that disease from swimming with contacts in open water.  I mostly wear my glasses these days, but wear contacts for races.  How rare is this disease?  Is it more prevalent in certain parts of the world than others?  This is rather disturbing as uncorrected I am pretty blind and I have a huge fear of going all the way blind. 

ICLs are working very well so far. We have around 5 years worth of data here in the USA and for people like you and me, they seem like they could be a real option. I am actually a more conservative surgeon and I am going to wait for a few more years of data before making the leap myself, mostly b/c I do well with glasses/prescritpion goggles and contacts. I have been in on a few ICL surgeries and the patients rave about it. The military is doing them and so far no complications that I am aware of in any patients. But, like I said earlier, I am going to wait a few more years before doing the procedure or having it done on myself. I am just a bit cautious about new surgeries.

Truthfully, it's pretty rare but I saw around 10 cases in my year of fellowship all related to contact lens wear and fresh water exposure. And the outcomes were pretty awful in 6 of those with the other 4 recovering most of their vision after a lot of care. But I was at a major referral center for a large area on the East Coast in the USA. I do not want to scare everyone out of contacts forever. I often wear contacts and think that when worn and cared for properly, that they are fine and safe. But, in my opinion, they are not safe to wear in situations where you are going to be exposed to water, esp non-chlorinated water (although even chlorinated water can harbour the organism called acanthamoeba).

For me, it just makes sense to go ahead and get the $30 prescription swim goggles that I can wear to T1 and then switch into my prescription sunglasses for the rest of the race. I noticed that the prescription lenses came in at leats -8.0's. I am a -6.50 OU and bought the -6.0's and they work perfectly.

So, bottom line, it's unlikely that you ill ever have a problem even if you wear your contacts for race days but for me, it's just not orth the risk, esp after seeing hat I've seen.