wear gogles over contacts…and sweep the hey kook looks under the rug
Refractive surgery is great for many people, but not for others. It depends on what you do with your eyes, and how ‘well trained’ they are before the surgery. Contrast sensitivity is hampered in a great deal of cases, and for most people, this means nothing, especially in a high contrast environment such as a bright, sunny day at the beach. But in lower contrast environments, such as folks who look through microscopes for a living, astronomers, and anything that involves nightwork without bright lights, loss of contrast sensitivity is quite an impairment, and would be noticed.
As with anything else, any medical procedure involves risk; whether or not you think the risk is acceptable is the question. Choosing to drive a car to work puts you at risk for experiencing a disastrous car accident, but most people have no problem accepting that risk (even though trauma surgeons tend to stay pretty busy). Taking aspirin every day increases your chances for stomach damage, as well as hearing loss (aspirin is ototoxic, but it is not that potent in that regard). Even taking Benadryl for allergies every day increases your chances for having a seizure, as histamine is a stimulatory neurotransmitter in your brain (that’s why it makes you sleepy when you are on Benadryl). Almost everything (especially concerning healthcare) is a matter of compromise; get this, give up that.
Personally, I love the fact that I am corrected to 20/10 with glasses, 20/15 with contacts, and have no contrast losses (other than those associated with aging, so far, at least). It allows me to enjoy searching for galaxies and other faint objects in the night sky with a telescope or binoculars. It would be nice to see more when I am out in the water, though…
Anyone ever tried these: http://www.seaspecs.com/
I have been toying with the idea of getting those or the barz goggles…if anyone has experience with either of them, I’d like to know.
JSS
i’ve been wearing contacts in the sea for about 45 years now—the most successful have been hard gas-perm lens----they stick better and correct better than the soft lens—it takes a lot of practice to become really good with them—over the years i’ve only lost a few surfing(usually i lose them doing simple stuff like mowingt the lawn or doing the dishes)----while surfing the main thing is to learn to keep your eyes sorta half opened while in the tube and as you wipe out --the lip acts to hold the lens in place----gritty water is an issue with getting stuff in behind the lens—i’ve been told i’m not a good subject for the lasik, so i’ work with what i have got and it’s been good so far
I had been wearing soft contacts in the water for years with no problems. I think I lost 3 total and they were disposables anyway. After years of wearing these things I was told I shouldn’t wear them anymore cause my eye were not getting enough O2. My Eye doc recommented at new technology ( this was three years ago) called CRT (Corneal refractive therapy) which is a gas permaeable lens (they breath better than the soft lenses) that you wear at night while you sleep and take out in the morning leaving your vision corrected all day long without having to wear anything. I love em, It’s great being able to surf/swim/dive without worrying about losing a lense.
The down side to these lenses is you have to wear them every night or your vision will return to it’s previous condition pretty quick. Also, there are limits on how much correct and astigmatism they can handle and they are expensive, $300. pair.
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...Anyone ever tried these: http://www.seaspecs.com/
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Not tried, but looked at. I think they would be OK, but I’m not sure the prescription model comes available with spherical correction (astigmatism). I’d also be a little concerned about the lense tint in low-light surfing. Personally, I’d much rather have something with a clear lens. I suspect you already know, but for the benefit of other readers, the polycarbonate lense material (and soft contact material as well) offers adequate UV protection even without any tint or extra coatings.
-Samiam
Lasik rules, but only if you are a good candidate. My eye doc sent me to one of the best lasik guys in my town. After going through the exams, and looking at my eye history, he said I was one of those few that would have complications. Halo with night visions and bright spots from scarring because of the irregularity and thickness of my corneas (they would have to run the laser to burn more stuffs off), plus the excessive myopia. Its bad enough to disqualify me from military service (that and asthma). He said dry eyes might be a problem as well as a few nerves getting cooked because the laser must burn outside the normal parameters (my pupils can open wide) and . . .
I haven’t looked into the new techs . . .
Contacts work fine for me. I got the new silicon hydrogels that can breath alot better … the issue with that is they absorb proteins and lipids (my eyes put out that stuff alot) so after a week or two I need to toss them and use new ones . . .
I tried looking into the rigid gas permeables but all the docs I’ve worked with recommend the softies . . .
I’ve gotten used to using contacts in the water, I just close my eyes slightly. I asked for the larger diameter ones daily ones and they work fine.