Discovery Cove with contacts/glasses?

[kellia]

I'm just wondering what people with contacts/glasses do at Discovery Cove. I've read that they have prescription goggles, but you don't wear those all day long, do you? I'd like to be able to see when I have them off, too, lol. Is it possible to wear contacts under regular masks or does the salt water irritate them? We live near lakes, not ocean, so I can't say I've gone swimming in salt water since I got old and needed glasses.

Wishing I wasn't too chicken to have lasik done!

 

[bearzabout]

I have read that snorkeling with contacts works well. I wear glasses and snorkel often. I have a prescription mask and they are fabulous. The water magnifies anyway so even with my 15 year old mask, I can see well. If they have prescription masks on loan, you can carry an eyeglass case and exchange your glasses for the mask just before you get in the water and leave your eyeglasses with your towel on a chair nearby. I leave my mask on until I get back to my eyeglasses.

When snorkeling at exotic destinations where I can't risk losing my classes, I have a waterproof eyeglass case like a Witz Lens Locker that I wear around my neck. They can scratch glasses, so I put them in a cloth bag first or better yet, wear my glasses that are one generation older so I don't risk my one new pair.

 

[andyw715]

My daughter (10) wears glasses and used DC's prescription mask. I got her a waterproof case for her older glasses. That arrangement seemed to work well for her.

I'm a lasik chicken as well and have worn contacts from 1988-2001

In 2001 my wife got ortho K lenses (http://www.contactlenses.org/orthok.htm)

I got them shortly after. In a nutshell they are gas permeable lenses that you wear at night. They reshape the cornea while you sleep and you take them out when you wake up. Within 3 wearings (back in 2001) I went from 20/200 to 20/20.
For me the reshaping effect lasts 2 or 3 days. For my wife she wears them once or twice a month.

It's nice not having to worry about contacts tearing, or not being able to swim, or play volley ball in the sand.
Back then the cost was similar to laser surgery, now I think it would be less than $1000 for the initial appointments and fitting. After that its just a yearly eye exam (for eye health) and general contact care. The lenses last 5-7 years, I'm on my 2 1/2 set (I lost one a year ago).

 

[kellia]

My daughter (10) wears glasses and used DC's prescription mask. I got her a waterproof case for her older glasses. That arrangement seemed to work well for her.

I'm a lasik chicken as well and have worn contacts from 1988-2001

In 2001 my wife got ortho K lenses (http://www.contactlenses.org/orthok.htm)

I got them shortly after. In a nutshell they are gas permeable lenses that you wear at night. They reshape the cornea while you sleep and you take them out when you wake up. Within 3 wearings (back in 2001) I went from 20/200 to 20/20.
For me the reshaping effect lasts 2 or 3 days. For my wife she wears them once or twice a month.

It's nice not having to worry about contacts tearing, or not being able to swim, or play volley ball in the sand.
Back then the cost was similar to laser surgery, now I think it would be less than $1000 for the initial appointments and fitting. After that its just a yearly eye exam (for eye health) and general contact care. The lenses last 5-7 years, I'm on my 2 1/2 set (I lost one a year ago).

Wow, I had no idea there was anything like that! I'm going to have to look into that. Do they hurt?

 

[andyw715]

Wow, I had no idea there was anything like that! I'm going to have to look into that. Do they hurt?

No. At first they might be uncomfortable though.

The backstory is: Back in the day, remember "hard contacts"? Well there was a residual effect from those, people retained better vision for a short period of time after they removed them. The problem was the hard lenses didn't transfer oxygen to the eye which resulted in issues during sleep. Late 70's early 80's brought Rigid Gas Permeable lenses and soon after overnight wear of GP lenses. Along the same time? came soft lenses and those seemed to "win" the popularity contest. It wasn't until 2002 (so I guess I got them in 2002) that RGP lenses were approved for ortho-k treatment.

So these lenses I wear are RGP lenses, designed to reshape the cornea to correct the vision.

There are a few side effects. One is dry eyes when you wake up. I like to keep a small dropper bottle of eye drop next to my bed so I can rewet them when I wake up. You can wear them during the day if you like (but that is kind of the point is that you don't have to) The other "side effect" is that you have to be comfortable touching your eye, not so much for putting them in (same procedure as soft contact), taking them out is different as you use a little plunger device to "pluck" them out. Like this http://www.eyecareuniverse.com/dmv-classic-hard-lens-remover?gclid=CN6-2OCa4NACFQO4wAodhycOhQ

The pros are: obviously not having to wear lenses during the day, might not need to wear them every night, can see with them in or out Which is nice at night. I can put them in, brush my teeth, watch TV and then just go to bed.
No irreversible effect of surgery. Maybe this isn't the case any more, but I've thought that you can't get laser surgery again if your eyes get worse? With these lenses you can just change their Rx

 

[Penguinempress]

I wore my contacts all day and used a regular (non prescription) mask - I didn't have any problems. As long as you don't try to open your eyes underwater without a mask on, you should be fine.

 

[mom2rose&john]

I wore my contacts all day and used a regular mask. The mask fits very snug and no water seeps in. If water does seep in you need to adjust your mask or possible get a kids size if you face is narrow. My son and husband both wear glasses and they wore the prescription masks. They have them in kids and adult sized masks. I always bring backup contacts and solution with me just in case. I have even open my eyes briefly underwater in our home pool and never lost a contact.

 

[HallClan]

We just got back from Discovery Cove. My husband wears contacts and decided to try wearing them. Had no problem since the masks are tight. He brought his glasses just in case but never needed them.