{"id":7039,"date":"2020-02-25T14:40:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T14:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kooxdiving.com\/en\/?p=7039"},"modified":"2020-02-25T14:53:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T14:53:07","slug":"can-you-swim-with-contacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kooxdiving.com\/en\/can-you-swim-with-contacts\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Swim with Contacts?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Can You Swim with Contacts?<\/h1>\n

Contact lenses can be a great alternative to glasses but it’s important that you know how to use them safely. One of the areas where questions often come up are around contact lenses and water, specifically, can you swim with contacts? As any optician will tell you, you can but it’s a really bad idea.<\/p>\n

Contact Lenses and Water<\/h2>\n

Contact lenses, especially soft lenses absorb any water around them, This alters their shape making them uncomfortable to wear and irritating to your eyes. Eye doctors even advise against showering while wearing contacts.<\/p>\n

Rigid gas porous lenses are less prone to water absorption but prone to dislodging when you’re swimming. If you don’t fancy trying to recover your lenses from the bottom of the pool (or the bottom of the ocean!) it’s a much better idea to remove them before you enter the water.<\/p>\n

When it comes to swimming with contacts, the expense of a lost lens or some temporary irritation is actually the least serious issues. Swimming or scuba diving with contact lenses has the potential to cause painful and serious eye infections.<\/p>\n

Chlorine is Bad for Eyes and For Contact Lenses<\/h2>\n

You might imagine that swimming with contact lens in a pool that has chlorine in it should be OK. After all, it’s bacteria that cause infections and chlorine kills bacteria, right? Well, right but only to a point. Chlorine reduces the level of bacteria in a swimming pool to the point where there’s no risk in normal circumstances, but it won’t kill all bacteria. The chlorine also degrades the “tear film” of the eye. This is what makes the eye glossy and it protects against bacteria entering into the eye itself. So chlorine will make your eyes more susceptible to bacterial invasion.<\/p>\n

Contact Lenses and Swimming in the Sea<\/h2>\n

Swimming in the ocean at least means that you’re not exposed to chlorine, but unfortunately even the cleanest of seas will be teaming with microorganisms, some of which can be harmful if they get into your eyes. The most dangerous of these is Acanthamoeba, an amoeba which can attach to the contact lens and later work its way into the eye. This can lead to ulceration, or keratitis of the cornea and in the most serious cases can cause loss of vision.<\/p>\n

What if You Forgot?<\/h2>\n

If you accidentally swim with contact lenses don’t panic. There are things you can do after the event that will reduce the risk of infection.<\/p>\n