Cycling and contact lenses

[nobilis]

I was wondering if there are many of you who wear contact lenses while riding. I have moderate myopia (Although having -9 and -8 in each eye but it's referred to as moderate myopia according to my ophtalmologist) and it sometimes happens to me that the contact lens gets dry and sometimes it falls off my eye? One time it happened during a race. Has anyone had the same problem? What do you suggest? What do you think are the solutions? I might consider doing the Lasik surgery as an alternative.

 

[Michele]

Usually when riding I dont use glasses or contact lens, but at races I try to be ever using them so Im not sure I cant answer your question but so far never got troubles of contact lens getting dry (at least during the event).

On the other side I have a friend who use contact lens for every ride and he never reported me any problem.

 

[nobilis]

Usually when riding I dont use glasses or contact lens, but at races I try to be ever using them so Im not sure I cant answer your question but so far never got troubles of contact lens getting dry (at least during the event).

On the other side I have a friend who use contact lens for every ride and he never reported me any problem.

Thanks for the answer. I think that our eyes might react differently to contact lenses. For me, it happens more when descending, maybe i get more tense and tend not to blink my eyes.

 

[redtreviso]

You didn't mention sunglasses..I can't imagine not having problems if I didn't wear sunglasses to protect my contacts from the wind.

 

[nobilis]

You didn't mention sunglasses..I can't imagine not having problems if I didn't wear sunglasses to protect my contacts from the wind.

I never ride without my sunglasses. Otherwise, I will lose my contacts at the very beginning of the ride.

 

[Vegan Dave]

Heya, my contacts keep in nicely, so it's never been a problem.

I have had other friends who's contacts fell out, esp at speed, might help to find some eyewear that blocks more wind, like the Rudy Eckynox.

 

[Arnout]

What sort of contact lenses do you use? I use the soft ones and I never have problems, racing without sunglasses most of the time. Only descending can be a problem without sunglasses. Try to blink a few times, I think there is no other solution.

I also think it differs from person to person.

 

[redtreviso]

I never ride without my sunglasses. Otherwise, I will lose my contacts at the very beginning of the ride.

Now that we've cleared that up.. Back in the 80s a bunch of people I know who wore contacts kept using Oakley factory pilot glasses, myself included..I went to the regular blade type and had no problems...I had a contact fold up last week but it was from excess tears (cold wind)..You might try premium type solutions for your contacts or various other moisteners..Obviously eye drops are impractical while racing but carrying some to use while training wouldn't be too inconvenient..Very handy if you ever have to take one out and clean it.
I'd like to do Lasik..The number one hassle for me in getting ready to ride is putting in contacts and not smearing them or putting them in inside out or or or or or ..

 

[nobilis]

What sort of contact lenses do you use? I use the soft ones and I never have problems, racing without sunglasses most of the time. Only descending can be a problem without sunglasses. Try to blink a few times, I think there is no other solution.

I also think it differs from person to person.

I use the soft lenses too. I think you're right, the key is to blink frequently but I tend to forget when i'm concentrated.

 

[nobilis]

Heya, my contacts keep in nicely, so it's never been a problem.

I have had other friends who's contacts fell out, esp at speed, might help to find some eyewear that blocks more wind, like the Rudy Eckynox.

Well, to tell you the truth, since i got my oakley radar, it's been happening less frequently. I guess they have more coverage than my previous shades (which were cheap ones from Decathlon)

 

[nobilis]

Now that we've cleared that up.. Back in the 80s a bunch of people I know who wore contacts kept using Oakley factory pilot glasses, myself included..I went to the regular blade type and had no problems...I had a contact fold up last week but it was from excess tears (cold wind)..You might try premium type solutions for your contacts or various other moisteners..Obviously eye drops are impractical while racing but carrying some to use while training wouldn't be too inconvenient..Very handy if you ever have to take one out and clean it.
I'd like to do Lasik..The number one hassle for me in getting ready to ride is putting in contacts and not smearing them or putting them in inside out or or or or or ..

Thanks for all the tips. I think u're right about the quality of the solution.
Concerning the Lasik, everyone i know recommended it to me. They said that it really changes your life, at least the quality of life.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I'm - 7.50 and -5.5. I use my lenses for every ride and never had a problem with them when using my sunglasses. Without they get dry as hell

 

[Guidokcd]

I wear soft disposables and never have problems with them. I wear sunglasses about 50% of the time, and when I don't have them on, I don't notice a difference. Only once in about 17 years did I have a contact pop out on me during a ride and it happened to be in a race, which sucked, but it's only happened once. I even raced cross without sunglasses and never had issues. Everybody is different, I guess.

 

[Beech Mtn]

What Lasik is like

I had pretty bad myopia and a tiny bit of astigmatism. Wore soft contacts for many years, and then had IntraLasik surgery. With the newer technologies, the Lasik surgery can correct eyes much better than with contacts or glasses. In my case, the astigmatism was so slight that it didn't warrant a prescription for it. So my contact lenses were only for the myopia. But the Lasik surgery now includes Wavefront technology - it's basically a machine that maps your eye to a very minute degree so the actual laser can correct all tiny imperfections, even things smaller than glasses/contacts can address. So my surgery corrected my astigmatism as well as my myopia.

Surgery was very quick, no pain at all, everything done by lasers with no tools of any sort touching my eye, so no real chance of infection. The eye heals itself surprisingly quickly. You will be amazed at how fast you can see normally. There wasn't any pain, but it was "squicky" feeling, watching that laser and seeing a piece of my cornea peeled back. I can't describe what it's like - it doesn't hurt, but it is a strange thing to *watch* and know what they are doing to you.

They gave me a pill (muscle relaxant) that I had to take about an hour before surgery, then had me sit in a darkened room laid out in a recliner watching a movie while they got everything ready. Just as I was about to fall asleep in the recliner, they took me back for the actual surgery. At some point they put some drops in my eye that numbed it completely. I laid there and had to focus on a dot while the laser did the cutting (peels back a slice of the cornea - then a separate laser resurfaces the lens). I believe they held/strapped you down so you couldn't involuntarily move during the procedure. They also will put tiny clamps on your eyelids so you don't blink. The laser "tracks" your normal eye movement and works away. It has some kind of safety shutoff feature if your eye were to move too much. The actual procedure took about 5 minutes.

After it's over, they give you an Ambien and have you go home and rest. At about 2 hours or so after the surgery, the eye drops wear off, and there can be pain for a brief time (1/2 hour or hour?). With the Ambien (plus having had the muscle relaxer earlier in the day), you sleep through this period and never feel a thing. Wake up from the nap, and your eye feels fine. You will have clear plastic shields to put over your eyes to sleep so you don't rub your eyes while you sleep.

Biggest side effect is dry eye, but I had no trouble with that. They will have you use artificial tears (eye drops) for a week or two after the surgery, but after that, you are fine. I went back to work the next day, no trouble.

The most important thing is to find a good surgeon who has done this surgery a kajillion times before.

Edit - My night vision is much better now than it was with contacts. Day vision of course is better too. My eyes are less dry now than they were with contacts. (I used to have trouble with contacts falling out due to drying out.) I got the Lasik because I couldn't see a damn thing swimming without contacts, and I hated always having to wear goggles or be blind.

 

[nobilis]

I'm - 7.50 and -5.5. I use my lenses for every ride and never had a problem with them when using my sunglasses. Without they get dry as hell

So we're in the same club (of pseudo blinds).
I guess I will never be able to do the Strade Bianchi I still remember the image of Vino barely able to open his eyes last year.

 

[nobilis]

I had pretty bad myopia and a tiny bit of astigmatism. Wore soft contacts for many years, and then had IntraLasik surgery. With the newer technologies, the Lasik surgery can correct eyes much better than with contacts or glasses. In my case, the astigmatism was so slight that it didn't warrant a prescription for it. So my contact lenses were only for the myopia. But the Lasik surgery now includes Wavefront technology - it's basically a machine that maps your eye to a very minute degree so the actual laser can correct all tiny imperfections, even things smaller than glasses/contacts can address. So my surgery corrected my astigmatism as well as my myopia.

Surgery was very quick, no pain at all, everything done by lasers with no tools of any sort touching my eye, so no real chance of infection. The eye heals itself surprisingly quickly. You will be amazed at how fast you can see normally. There wasn't any pain, but it was "squicky" feeling, watching that laser and seeing a piece of my cornea peeled back. I can't describe what it's like - it doesn't hurt, but it is a strange thing to *watch* and know what they are doing to you.

They gave me a pill (muscle relaxant) that I had to take about an hour before surgery, then had me sit in a darkened room laid out in a recliner watching a movie while they got everything ready. Just as I was about to fall asleep in the recliner, they took me back for the actual surgery. At some point they put some drops in my eye that numbed it completely. I laid there and had to focus on a dot while the laser did the cutting (peels back a slice of the cornea - then a separate laser resurfaces the lens). I believe they held/strapped you down so you couldn't involuntarily move during the procedure. They also will put tiny clamps on your eyelids so you don't blink. The laser "tracks" your normal eye movement and works away. It has some kind of safety shutoff feature if your eye were to move too much. The actual procedure took about 5 minutes.

After it's over, they give you an Ambien and have you go home and rest. At about 2 hours or so after the surgery, the eye drops wear off, and there can be pain for a brief time (1/2 hour or hour?). With the Ambien (plus having had the muscle relaxer earlier in the day), you sleep through this period and never feel a thing. Wake up from the nap, and your eye feels fine. You will have clear plastic shields to put over your eyes to sleep so you don't rub your eyes while you sleep.

Biggest side effect is dry eye, but I had no trouble with that. They will have you use artificial tears (eye drops) for a week or two after the surgery, but after that, you are fine. I went back to work the next day, no trouble.

The most important thing is to find a good surgeon who has done this surgery a kajillion times before.

Edit - My night vision is much better now than it was with contacts. Day vision of course is better too. My eyes are less dry now than they were with contacts. (I used to have trouble with contacts falling out due to drying out.) I got the Lasik because I couldn't see a damn thing swimming without contacts, and I hated always having to wear goggles or be blind.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I've been told by many others who've undergone this procedure how simple it is. I'm actually planning to do it this year. And apparently, there are no known or reported long-term side effects.
I think i'm in the same case as yours. I have bad myopia as I previously mentioned and very light astigmatism therefore my contacts are only for myopia as well. I've previously done the assessment and the doctor told me that I was eligible for myopia but then I decided not to do it then because my myopia wasn't stable.

 

[Anonymous]

I have ridden with contacts for over 20 years. I have had problems occasionally popping a contact out. It does not happen often but corrected in one eye and not corrected in the other is no fun on a bike.

A few years ago I switched to Accuvue Oasys. I have not had any problems with them.

 

[Tibber]

I had the same prescription as you, and unless I had wrap around style shades, I would lose contacts frequently. I think the thick lenses dry out more easily. Having said that, I would recommend Lasiks. Had my eyes done 12 years ago, and it is incredible the difference it makes. I had an excellent surgeon, and ended up with better than 20/20 vision.

 

[brianf7]

We have a lot of wind and dust where I live so I have turned to the sunnies with a clip in lens . The contacts get dry and dusty very gritty .
one day I will invest in prescription sunnies. but can get odd blind spot over the sholder with clip in lens

 

[auscyclefan94]

I'm - 7.50 and -5.5. I use my lenses for every ride and never had a problem with them when using my sunglasses. Without they get dry as hell

That is high level of myopia if the diopters required are -7.5 & -5.5. If you take your glasses and/or contact lenses off. Mine are rather mild and can see alright from a distance but if i need to read something off a distant screen then I require glasses. I was found to have myopia because of the amount of "close eye" work I was doing with school and study. Funnily enough I did a 1 thousan word essay on myopia for school when I got my glasses and got an A+.

 

[nobilis]

That is high level of myopia if the diopters required are -7.5 & -5.5. If you take your glasses and/or contact lenses off. Mine are rather mild and can see alright from a distance but if i need to read something off a distant screen then I require glasses. I was found to have myopia because of the amount of "close eye" work I was doing with school and study. Funnily enough I did a 1 thousan word essay on myopia for school when I got my glasses and got an A+.

I'm -9.5 & -8 and the doctor told me it's called moderate myopia. :S

 

[pollux]

You didn't mention sunglasses..I can't imagine not having problems if I didn't wear sunglasses to protect my contacts from the wind.

Same for me, I always use my sunglasses otherwise they get dry as hell.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I'm -9.5 & -8 and the doctor told me it's called moderate myopia. :S

Anything less than -6 diotopes is high myopia, trust me.

 

[Anonymous]

I wear soft disposables and never have problems with them. I wear sunglasses about 50% of the time, and when I don't have them on, I don't notice a difference. Only once in about 17 years did I have a contact pop out on me during a ride and it happened to be in a race, which sucked, but it's only happened once. I even raced cross without sunglasses and never had issues. Everybody is different, I guess.

same here. wear daily disposables and never had a problem. But i do make sure i always have glasses on. a bit of dust combined with lenses is not fun. The only times ive had real problems of any kind with my lenses was one very hot summer in paris, i could only wear my lenses for about 2 hours and then they really started itching and when i took them out they were actually starting to crinkle at the edges from the heat. :/

 

[Archibald]

i'm short sighted as well. I don't use contact lens, but always use some form of glasses when I ride - sunglasses or clear lenses. I also have a sports pair with yellow lenses that are prescription lenses that I used when racing MTB enduros and dirt crits.
For commuting, I just use the clear non-prescriptions here in London - it's rarely bright enough to use the sunnies unless it's for about 2 weeks at the height of summer... I'd never ride without some form of eye protection (except maybe a boris bike)