Is It Safe to Swim With Contact Lenses, Either With or Without Goggles?
31 Mar Is It Safe to Swim With Contact Lenses, Either With or Without Goggles?
Can You Swim with Contact Lenses?
From All About Vision
Wearing contact lenses can be a godsend for those who have vision issues. Contacts are a marvel of innovation, and make wearing glasses for corrective vision seem clumsy and cumbersome. Contacts are not without maintenance and pitfalls, however, as this post from All About Vision points out. Sleeping with, showering with, and swimming with contact lenses is not advised for any number of reasons. Should the wearer of contacts contract a number of viruses or disorders of the eye through swimming, the worst case outcome can result in vision loss and the need for a corneal transplant.
Here is an excerpt from the post:
Swimming with contact lenses should be avoided whenever possible to help prevent bacterial contamination of your eye. Swimming with contacts can result in eye infections, irritation and potentially sight-threatening conditions such as a corneal ulcer.
The FDA recommends that contact lenses should not be exposed to any kind of water, including tap water and water in swimming pools, oceans, lakes, hot tubs and showers.
Water can be home to countless viruses and dangerous microbes. One of the most serious is the Acanthamoeba organism, which can attach to contact lenses and cause the cornea to become infected and inflamed. This condition, called Acanthamoeba keratitis, is associated with wearing contact lenses while swimming and can cause permanent vision loss or require a corneal transplant to recover lost vision if not treated early enough.
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