Swimming + glasses

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BigAnnieG
BigAnnieG Posts: 89 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I LOVE swimming... but am also ridiculously short sighted. This means I swim with my glasses on, as contacts and chlorine are a bad mix, and prescription goggles are foggy/a pain (either entrust glasses to side of a busy pool for the ol' switcharoo or walk around entire changing area with a curved perspective on the world...!). Does anyone else have this, and what's the best way to deal with it? I swim breaststroke but keep my head above water, though my neck as in line as possible without submerging my head, and manage a good forty minutes before an ache sets in. My pace is pretty quick, thanks to having paddles for feet, but I just wonder if there is a better way to manage semi blindness and swimming. Going without lenses is out of the question as I literally can't see my own feet without them!
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Replies

  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,665 Member
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    I'm also pretty blind and find the prescription goggles to be the best solution for me. Swimmers use a few tricks to keep their goggles clear of fog. Baby shampoo is one. As for the walk around the pool wearing them, I just deal with it. I put my glasses with my towel. It doesn't bother me too much.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    dishwasher soap can also help fogginess on goggles - I put my glasses in my shoes on the side of the pool, to hopefully stop anyone from stepping on them
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
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    Hmm. I wear prescription goggles and I don't notice a curved perspective on the world. They are just much bulkier than my normal glasses.

    Maybe your prescription is higher than mine though and that's why. Is lens thinning available for goggles, do you think?
  • fbchick51
    fbchick51 Posts: 240 Member
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    deannalfisher wrote: »
    could you do contacts and normal swim goggles?

    This is what I did before having lasiks. Of course, it probably helped that I was pretty young when I started. I was a competitive swimmer/diver and lifeguard, who literally lived at the pool. I hated running around the pool blind or worrying about my glasses getting broken, so I just taught myself not to open my eyes under water unless I had googles on and just wore my contacts so I could see. Always keep my glasses in my bag just in case, but I never actually lost my contacts to the pool.
  • MissMaggieMuffin
    MissMaggieMuffin Posts: 444 Member
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    deannalfisher wrote: »
    could you do contacts and normal swim goggles?

    Second this idea - that is what I do.
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,388 Member
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    I have worn contacts with regular goggles, it was fine, but my eye doctor told me it's not a great idea. I went on amazon and bought a pair of prescription TYR's for $20 and it was one of the best fitness investments I've made. I swim several different strokes so not wearing goggles is impossible.
  • gottlebgal
    gottlebgal Posts: 1 Member
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    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    I have worn contacts with regular goggles, it was fine, but my eye doctor told me it's not a great idea.
    What reason did your eye doctor give you? Why was it not a great idea?
  • MissMaggieMuffin
    MissMaggieMuffin Posts: 444 Member
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    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    I have worn contacts with regular goggles, it was fine, but my eye doctor told me it's not a great idea. I went on amazon and bought a pair of prescription TYR's for $20 and it was one of the best fitness investments I've made. I swim several different strokes so not wearing goggles is impossible.

    @MonkeyMel21 Curious about why your eye doctor didn't like that combination?
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,388 Member
    edited April 2017
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    gottlebgal wrote: »
    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    I have worn contacts with regular goggles, it was fine, but my eye doctor told me it's not a great idea.
    What reason did your eye doctor give you? Why was it not a great idea?

    I think due to the chance of chlorine irritating them. He's an eye surgeon though so most of his patients have lots of eye issues.


    edit to add: I mention he's a surgeon because he's probably more careful/cautiony (Is that a word?) than an optometrist would be.
  • erockem
    erockem Posts: 278 Member
    edited April 2017
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    I swear by this stuff. Got a 3 pack, but each bottle lasts me roughly two years. Just starting my second bottle. 200 sprays = 100 uses. Never foggy.

    https://amazon.com/Jaws-Quick-Antifog-Spray-1-Ounce/dp/B0012Q2S4W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492432551&sr=8-1&keywords=quick+spit

  • Rincewind_1965
    Rincewind_1965 Posts: 639 Member
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    MissMaggieMuffin wrote: »
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    could you do contacts and normal swim goggles?

    Second this idea - that is what I do.

    Is my approach as well.
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,388 Member
    edited April 2017
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    erockem wrote: »
    I swear by this stuff. Got a 3 pack, but each bottle lasts me roughly two years. Just starting my second bottle. 200 sprays = 100 uses. Never foggy.

    https://amazon.com/Jaws-Quick-Antifog-Spray-1-Ounce/dp/B0012Q2S4W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492432551&sr=8-1&keywords=quick+spit

    ooooh! I'm getting this right meow! Some guy once told me to put a tiny bit of soap on the inside but I've been too chicken to try it, lol. I'd rather have foggy goggles than soap in my eyes.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
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    I too use an anti fog spray with good results. For me, prescription goggles are the way to go if you want to do some serious swimming.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
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    If your goggles are fogging, you just have to work on your technique. Give em a lick, dishsoap or use a commercial product.
  • ScubaSteve1962
    ScubaSteve1962 Posts: 612 Member
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    As a diver fogging in masks is a big problem, defog works wonders. Any Dive shop would have it, or you can get it from Amazon.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Contacts & regular goggles have never been a problem for me,
  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
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    I am nearsighted and wear contacts with my goggles to do open water swims (in a lake). I wear only goggles at the pool. I haven't had any problems pairing my contacts with goggles so far. I try and focus on the black line on the bottom of the pool and when it turns into a "T" I slow down and prepare for the switch. Can you see and maybe focus on the line at the bottom of the pool and then slip on your glasses when getting out around the pool area? I've never tried prescription goggles but that sounds like it may be a better alternative than a crick in the neck :) My neck kills me after practicing sighting for open water swimming. Take care of the neck!

    For the fogging try baby shampoo, dish washing soap, using your tongue, and/or look up "spit" in a bottle. Happy Laps!
  • RedfootDaddy
    RedfootDaddy Posts: 274 Member
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    I just swim with my glasses on . . . maybe I should be more worried about losing them in the pool!

    When we were kids my mom had terrible eyesight, so she always bought us really bright swimsuits so she could see us without her glasses on. I started wearing mine while swimming when I was a camp counselor, fewer kids lost in the waves that way.
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
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    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    gottlebgal wrote: »
    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    I have worn contacts with regular goggles, it was fine, but my eye doctor told me it's not a great idea.
    What reason did your eye doctor give you? Why was it not a great idea?

    I think due to the chance of chlorine irritating them. He's an eye surgeon though so most of his patients have lots of eye issues.


    edit to add: I mention he's a surgeon because he's probably more careful/cautiony (Is that a word?) than an optometrist would be.
    I would guess that any optometrist would be similarly cautious, tbh. I've been lectured on safe contact use enough and I don't even use them.

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