You may believe that wearing contacts is vital for clear eyesight when swimming if you wear them. Swimming with contacts can be dangerous in various ways, even if having perfect eyesight may keep you from slamming into barriers.
Getting your contacts wet with any water, whether in the shower, a lake, or a pool, can raise your risk of developing various eye disorders.
Swimming while wearing contact lenses is dangerous, and there are steps you can take to keep your eyes safe. Moreover, you may reach out to the eye specialist in Dubai to know more about the impacts.
What are the risks of swimming with contacts?
As eye specialists in Dubai suggested, contact lenses should not be exposed to water; swimming may be hazardous due to prolonged exposure. When the lenses absorb water, potential bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens may become trapped against your eye.
Swimming in lakes, rivers, and oceans may be riskier than swimming in a pool. This is because natural bodies of water are more likely to contain bacteria, viruses, and other harmful diseases that pool chemicals may be able to eliminate.
However, this does not mean wearing contact lenses while swimming in a pool is safe. Chlorine and other pool chemicals cannot eliminate all germs. Because soft lenses are porous, pathogens and chemicals from the pool can still enter your eyes.
Is it safe to wear contact lenses in the shower?
Any water, excluding sterile contact lens solutions, can be deadly if it gets into your eyes while wearing contact lenses.
Taking a shower while wearing contacts is risky, just as swimming while wearing contacts. It raises your chances of getting several eye disorders, including inflammation, infection, and dry eyes.
Furthermore, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Trusted Source, also by Ophthalmology Dubai, Acanthamoeba can be found in all types of water. It is more common in tap or healthy water, the type of water you might use to shower.
Acanthamoeba keratitis is a potentially fatal eye illness caused by this amoeba. Acanthamoeba keratitis can cause blindness in rare cases and is painful and challenging to treat.
If you must shower while wearing contact lenses, remove them immediately afterward. After that, immerse them in a disinfecting contact solution for 24 hours.
Swimming safety tips for contact lens wearers
If you can’t swim safely without your contact lenses, you can take some precautions to reduce your risk of an eye infection. You can, for example:
- Put on your specs. Any snug-fitting goggles will help keep water out of your eyes. If you go swimming frequently, consider obtaining a set of prescription swimming goggles, so you don’t have to wear your contacts.
- As soon as you finish swimming, remove your contacts. After that, put on your spectacles and thoroughly cleanse your eyes. You could also implant a new pair of contact lenses.
- After swimming with contacts in, soak your lenses in contact lens solution for 24 hours.
- Consider wearing contact lenses every day and disposing of them after swimming.
- Use artificial tears or rewetting drops before and after swimming to reduce the risk of dry eyes.
- If you compete in competitive swimming, talk to your doctor about a specific type of rigid gas-permeable contact lenses that you can wear at night to reshape your cornea. As a result, you may eventually no longer need contact lenses during the day. Consider eye LASIK as an additional option for vision repair.
Final Words
Wearing contact lenses while swimming or showering increases your risk of acquiring various eye diseases, ranging from dry eyes to severe eye infections. To reduce this risk, it’s usually best to avoid using contact lenses while swimming. Also, you may reach out to learn more about ophthalmology in Dubai.
Suppose you must wear contacts while swimming or showering to protect your eyes. Consider using tight-fitting goggles, removing and cleaning your contacts as soon as you depart the water, or discarding them entirely. If your eyes get red, irritated, unpleasant, itchy, or excessively watery after using your contact lenses in the water, consult your healthcare provider or Dubai ophthalmology.