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Who needs spectacles?

Hi guys, this is not a sales pitch.



How many of you need to correct your vision with specs or contact lenses? How do you manage in triathlon?



I am a dispensing optician and have been asked to write an article - coming soon to a 220 page near you![;)]



Let me know your thoughts some may appear in print... Fame at last!



DAvid

Comments

  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    yeh i am wearer of contact lenses !!!!!!!!! what is it you might want to know ???



    madnurse (phil)
  • DOtriHarderDOtriHarder Posts: 307
    Phil

    How do you plan to cope with the swim and transition; will you wear your lenses to swim in? Will you wear goggles? Do you wear daily disposables?

    Do you find you get irritated eyes from perspiration?

    david
  • loonytoonloonytoon Posts: 673
    I wear glasses for work lenses for sport



    the only trouble I ever have with my lenses is in the the pool after the first length or so(doesn't seem to be a problem after this) if I get a bit of water in them. This normally goes away with some blinking etc then I get my googles sorted proberly.



    Not sure how this will pan out if something goes wrong during an open water swim. I will probably have my glasses in transition just in case and hope I can complete the swim/find my bike with only one (or maybe no) lense(s)....



    I'll look for my prescription tonite (if that will be of use)..but it isn't so strong as to prevent swimming. Transistion may be an issue I should probably practice this..

  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    HI David !!!!!!



    Havent had any real issue (as yet) swimming with lenses in ... have always bought good quality goggles with excellent water seal. Swimming with glasses is obviouosly a no way issue so it had to be lenses or nothing. I have done transition a few times without problem. When i come to racing later this year I will be wearing lenses and have to risk loosing one or even both whislt swimming. I will have spares in my bag at transition incase. Plan B in case i lose one lens .. swim on & hopefully not in a circle ... if I loose both (pray hard) and follow guy iin front at least that way I might make it back to transition to put in new ones. Plan C have a labrador on standby.



    I have soft lenses which I change every month or sooner if irritable. As yet sweating has not caused issue with my eyes for any sort of training.



    phil (madnurse) [8|]
  • rebborebbo Posts: 58
    David,



    I have continuous wear lenses (put them in at the start of the month & don't remove them, even for cleaning/sleeping) until the end of the month. No problems at all - like cheap, temporary, safe laser eye treatment!



    Tom
  • pugwashpugwash Posts: 8
    I use daily lenses, and have never had any problems with them, but I have never lost one swimming (touch wood). I remember asking my optician about swimming with Lenses in. The professional opinion was don't swim in them and if you must make sure you take them out and wash yours eyes as soon as you finish. ( I think this is probably the "Cover your Arse" point of view).



    Rebbo

    I think I would be a little worried about swimming in dirty water with lenses that I was going to carry on using for the next week or so (unless I was sure my goggles had a good seal). But I would be really interested to hear how you are getting on with them.



    Has anyone ever tried prescription goggles?



    Paul

  • DOtriHarderDOtriHarder Posts: 307
    [:)][:)]THakns for your experiences guys.

    Rebbo: Yes this is one of the first steps we advise for anyone asking about cosmetic laser treatment. Laser treatment is final and does carry risks, contact lens wear is safer and reversible.

    Paul: [8|] WE do suggest strongly that you clean your lenses after swimming, especially if you don't wear goggles. Even if you do there is still an increased risk of contracting acanthamoeba (available in all goood household taps) from swimming pool water. Even when chlorinated that water is still filthy - just think of all those disgustingly sweaty tri-atheletes [:@]pounding back and forth. You may think our advise is a "cover your arse" coment but you wouldn't be happy if it happenned to you and you could never wear contacts again - Here endeth the lesson![:D]

    For those who don't wear contacts there are full prescription goggles, but also a cheaper option is an approximate prescription version for short-sighted people.

    David
  • BonusBBonusB Posts: 279
    For those of you struggling with contacts and transitions it could be worth checking out orthra K lenses ( i think that is the correct spelling). They are a contact lense worn at night that work some sort of funky magic and then in the morning you take them out and you have nigh on perfect vision. They work on people with -2 to -4 diopters of correction needed and if you have severe stigmatism they may not be for. I've been wearing mine for a while now and its great not having to worry about lenses etc when training or doing other sports. The initial consultation was £150 and then it goes to £35 a month but that covers all associated costs (like check ups, new lenses, and all the stuff you need to keep them clean etc). I'm not sure whereabouts you can get them from but I used Batemans in Guildford. Worth a gander if you want to try something other than regular lenses or laser surgery (the advantage with these are it is reversable).
  • DOtriHarderDOtriHarder Posts: 307
    BonusB You are right Ortho K lenses have been around for years but are gaining popularity at present. They work because the overnight contact lens is a special shape and distorts your cornea into the "correct" shape tomake up for your spectacle prescription. during the day you can leave out the lens and the cornea maintains most of the distortion, but if you forget to put the contact lens in at night you will not be able to see well in the morning as the cornea will have started to return to it's original shape. A good option for people who have a regular lifestyle but need to be able to see without wearing specs or contacts.

    David
  • BonusBBonusB Posts: 279
    I'm quite lucky with mine as at a pinch I can go two days without wearing them though by the second evening I'm becoming aware that my vision is definately worse.
  • jazdogjazdog Posts: 223
    Hi Paul - I wear specs ... obviously not for swimming... I have some eye condition that means I don't get tears so can't wear lenses. I'm not so blind that it causes a problem in the pool but I would need to wear them on the bike to see any signs. Causes an issue if its raining or too hot (hah! ) and sweat drips off my brow.
  • RE: Monthly lenses...







    STOP.





    Very dangerous product they are, I ended up in hospital with ulcers on both of my eyes because of those nasty things!



    Very VERY painful, and its only recently I have dared wear contacts again ( daily disposables )



    I have no problems with contacts in the pool ( quality goggles ) the only issue is my eyes get a little dry on the bike if I have no sunglasses on.





  • For the record I wear -5.5 and -6





    *squints*
  • hound doghound dog Posts: 293
    Hey jazdog, long time no see, what you been up to?
  • bonkerbonker Posts: 13
    Dear DOtriHarder,



    Good luck with the article.

    Just for your information I am the editor of Optician magazine and I am also following the Oakley Transitions Ironman Team.

    The team is made up of 7 opticians from around Europe and one from South Africa. They are taking part in the Monaco Ironman 70.3 in September and as their official correspondant I am attending all of their training camps and doing the Ironman too.

    Obviously the reason the team exsists is to promote Oakley Activated by Transitions eyewear.

    For non-optical types this means Transitions lenses ( the ones that are clear and go dark in the sun) fitted into sporting Oakley frames. This means they change as the light conditions change. The feeback so far has been pretty good. Be warned they are a top drawer product.



    For the swim corrective goggles, Aquasphere, View, Centro etc all do fairly cheap swappable lens goggles.



    I use OrthoK at the moment ( also from Batemans in Guildford) I am a real fan. I double this up with plano ( uncorrected) Oakley Activated by Transitions. Last week the team did a training camp around the Monaco course and watched the Nice Ironman and in those conditions ( 27C) the lenses were great.



    When I'm not using orthoK I have Rupp + Hubrach Silver shadow lenses in a Rudy project frame. These are the dog's dangly bits of cycling eyewear but have a permanent tint.



    A cheaper option is something like the BBB swappable lens products with a clip-in optical insert. That provides corrected vision and all lens options.



    Of course there are daily disposable contact lenses and sunglasses but don't swim in your lenses guys unless you are going to throw them away afterwards. I find this option awkward on the bike as the lenses dry out very quickly.



    Have a look at my bloig on the Oakley Transitions Ironman Team:

    http://oakleytransitionsironmanteam.blogspot.com/
  • bonkerbonker Posts: 13
    Correspondent -- sorry
  • mh130mh130 Posts: 6
    I've never really got on with contact lenses, so swimming was always something of a problem. More in hope than expectation I googled 'prescription swimming goggles' and found the following site.



    http://www.sportsgoggles.co.uk/Default.asp*



    You select the lens strength you want (I can't remember if it's to the nearest 0.25 or 0.5) and they send you your goggles for about £30. Obviously this isn't bang on, but is more than adequate to do the job. Not sure about quality compared to regular goggles, but for £30 I figure that if they last a year or two they will have paid me back.



    I keep the goggles on as I run into T1 where I can put on my usual prescription glasses / sunglasses for the bike and run legs.



    Matt



    *other prescription goggle sites are available
  • MikeyBMikeyB Posts: 135
    I wear my contact lenses for swimming and racing and haven't had any problems. Decent goggles keep the water out of my eyes so hopefully I will be ok. I guess I should really have a plan b in case I did lose a lens while swimming.



    Mike

  • handyrobhandyrob Posts: 31
    Another good site for prescription goggles below.



    www.gosportspex.com/Aquasphere_Eagle_Swimming_Goggles.asp
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