Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

hey guys anybody that wears contacts in the surf have any problems with keeping them in etc..? thinking of getting some. any info thanks.

Contacts ROCK!
Both of my kids and I wear contacts while surfing. Sure you lose a few but it is worth it, especially on those gray mornings. All of my lost contacts have come from offshore winds blowing spay in my eyes during takeoff.
Tips:
Tell your optometrist your intentions.
Do not use daily's as these will wash right out (use weekly's)
Try several brands if necessary until you find the best fit.
If you need toric lenses for astigmatism have your optometrist make you a standard prescription just for surfing to save money.
After each duck dive close your eyes and squeegee the water off your eyelids before opening them (so the contacts don't float out).
Do not try and body surf with them.

thanks for the info.

I surfed with contacts for a long time before I got laser surgery (different topic but wow, so worth it!)...with the contacts I had toric ones at first for my astigmatism but they were $60 each so losing them became an expensive proposition! So I went to the disposable ones and they worked fine, just not as good of correction. I've had 'em pop out but sometimes they would hang up on an eyelash or something so there were plenty of times that I would pop up and they would be sitting on my cheek below my eye...with another wave bearing down...I would grab it and put it in my mouth, then paddle outside and put it back in. So a good thing to learn is how to put one back in while sitting on your board, maybe in a wind, with no mirror. It's crazy but when you lose one out there your first impulse is to look for it--talk about the ultimate needle in the haystack!! Anyway, C.P.'s advice is spot on too....sure is nice to be able to see so I hope it works for you.

I use disposable dailys

http://www.netoptical.com.au/catalog/pr ... com44ps3i0

BioMedics for the past couple of years
but am moving on to the ProView +plus
same brand Cooper Vision





the ProView is a bit softer and stays wetter ... that may seem strange but it is the only way I can describe it

yes both will wash out in some situations
and yet at other times they seem to be glued in and can be difficult to get out

all depends on the eye wetness on a given day

the offshore spray can cause issues and so to can being near the white water and in the shack

I am often taking a drop with me eyes closed to keep the lenses in

yes that does make life interesting

my pescription is approx -3.50(L) and -2.25(R)

I have used -2.75 up to -3.50
in ALL combinations both left and right high and low values
which the doctor didn't like me doing and warned me about driving with weird combinations
but I told him it's just about the surfing

and now have decided to not use the V-LOW -2.75 (just to keep the stock levels lower)
or the HIGH -3.50 ... which is my normal glasses prescription
so now
-3.00 and -3.25 is typical
OR the same in both eyes ... either size

there is a trade off between the long distance and the in close
I prefer the short so I can see better in close ... the lip and bumps etc

I did try units further apart in each eye and even though you can get used to it
when one lense drifts across the eye it can really put you off
I didn't like it

Bottom line is
experimentation is worth the efforts
especially if the optometrist will give you samples of different values so you can try them out in different size waves

Curtis said tell your optometrist your intentions
agreed
BUT don't hold back telling him you want to try lower or higher values
unless the doctor surfs ... he doesn't get it !

again
I do keep my eyes closed on duck dives and when in close to the lip or the white water
I can be a little dangerous
and even worse when I lose one lense

Stan gives me a extra YELL when I come near by just in case .... I don't think he trusts me

hope all that makes some sort of sense

I used to use hard lenses (rigid gas perms) and although I only lost one I've had them slip off my cornea and go way up between the eyeball and eyelid. Usually some water would inadvertantly splash into my eye when least expecting it. It was terrible pulling in because I started to close my eyes unless it was a real gaping tube, just to prevent losing the lens.

I switched to soft lenses in 2007 (PureVision multifocal lens by Bosch&Laumb) and have loved them by comparison. Never had one slide off or get lost. Pulling in is wide-eyed again The optomitrist was worried about infection from ocean-born organisms but never had any probs. I take them out nightly and use an peroxide-based solution (ClearCare) that interacts with a metal wheel in the storage container to provide a nice clean lens in time for the next dawn patrol.

I've nervous to open my eyes underwater for fear of loosing one or really soaking up the ocean water into the lens. Does anybody have experience doing this??

No i don't trust you Kev

And quite often you do lose your contacts and at that stage i do feel im a marked man with your board coming very close to me.. not that i ever get too close to you

I must say you only seem to lose your contacts in heavy surf..

I have been useing contact lenses for over 25 years and being long sighted was able to get away with not wearing any type of eyewear in the water for years...after a trip to Fiji about 8 years ago i was shown these 'one day contact 'lenses....wish i had these years ago! I wear these for work and play, yes, i lose one every now and then, but for $128 for 90 pairs-delivered to my door My script for both eyes is +4.75 so if i do lose one its no real big deal in the water
Clearys Contacts....Focus Dailies....once you have got your script from your optometrist, order online and save some dollars!

Aren't you guys afraid of getting the granules between your contact and your eyeball, and scratching the surface of your eyeball?

Stanley wrote:I must say you only seem to lose your contacts in heavy surf..

that's a good point
and possible due to the fact I may try to hold my eyes more open ... in the tight spots ... than I would if were in control
taking an elevator ride and grabbing a rail .. eyes wide open .. " I CAN still make it !!"

Mike F wrote:...afraid of ... and scratching the surface of your eyeball?

when you get used to wearing contacts and how to handle the various issues this isn't something you worry about

grit was only every a problem for me at the point of putting the lense in OR while playing a ball sport on grass ... like rugby

never a problem for me in the surf ... or playing basket ball
??
and gardening

very rare for me

BUT if I did think there was a issue I would get the lense out straight away
even if I did risk loosing it
hence the advantage of throw aways

you get a nice new glossy lense each time and the quality and consistency is very good
there can be lenses that are less than perfect and you know pretty soon after they go in
it happens less than one per box(30) ... but it can happen
they can get a edge and roll about a bit as you blink

Don't know if this helps. Have you ever thought of prescription glasses for the surf?
I wear these all the time and they come at a reasonable price. They do tend to fog up on cool mornings if the anti-fog coating is getting thin.
http://www.seaspecs.com/

bdwqld wrote:Don't know if this helps. Have you ever thought of prescription glasses for the surf?
I wear these all the time and they come at a reasonable price. They do tend to fog up on cool mornings if the anti-fog coating is getting thin.
http://www.seaspecs.com/

I wear glasses, mostly have problems with fog, I just keep spitting on them, and have to deal with water spots, but I'm playing the cards I have been dealt in life.

All good advice posted from contact users!

I have been using for years. Was missing so much beauty and clarity before I started using them.
Here are some of my suggestions based on past experience.
Yes close your eyes during duck dives, and hard splashes to your face. Learn how to put on in the water. I keep a spare in my side pocket and have been saved from a long paddle in and walk back to car.
Early on I used the dailies. Had two tear when I tried taking them out. Had to see the eye specialist to get torn half removed. Seems like they would stick to my eye with a vengeance after a long surf. Not sure if my eye was dehydrated or what. The dailies were too delicate for my conditions. Now I use the long term ones (thicker and sturdier) and have not had a problem.
Never had problem with anything between lenses and eyeball. When you first put in and not feeling right, then take out, clean the lens and your eyeball and try again.
Good luck.

Used to use my UV coated Clearsight dailys in the surf until I had one shoved under my eyeball.

heh what great advice

what follows is general advice PLEASE SEE YOUR EYE CARE PRACTITIONER BEFORE FOLLOWING - ( also sorry about the spelling etc as I am in a hurry to have a surf )

normally a contact lens stays in the eye because of the meniscus pressure of the tears - when you go under water you don't have this so your main keeping in pressure is probably the pressure from your top and bottom lids in the upper and lower periphery of the lens - plus the friction of the lens on the cornea

that said, because a contact lens will normally tighten up on your eye when you are in salt water so that will help to keep it on

most of my patients who lose contacts in the water lose them when they are hit in the eye with a splash

if you have astigmatism then you can negate some of that sometimes with a negative lens which is spherical

eg the closeste spherical Rx to eg astigmatism of eg -2.00 DC is a spherical lens (meaning : "non toric" which means no astigmatic correction) of -1.00 DS

so sometimes even if you have astigmatism you can negate it slightly (maybe enough for Visaual acuity purposes in the water) by adding half your astigmatic correction to your spherical correction.


eg eg a script pf -2.00/-2.00 X 136 (meaning 2 dioptres of myopia and 2 dioptres of astigmatism) will have a spherical equivalent of -2 + -1 ie you may be able to get away with wearing a minus 3.00 lens without astigmatism - you wouldn't want to drive in them though. This is just a thought and will vary per individual and also with your axis of astigmatism (136 in the above example). Also with the thickness of the lens - a thicker lens will hide more astigmmatisim.

sorry about the typose my contact lens if off axis

but seriously in Vista I can only see the first few lines of what I post when I am typing

f