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Medical Forum / General / Vision / May 2006High prescription swim goggles
The question about swim goggles has me reconsidering prescription swim goggles for my son. He is blind in his left eye following a retinal detachment at age 8. His prescription in the right eye is -15.00 with no astigmatism. Years ago he had Rx goggles which he hated; I'm guessing they were uncomfortable. He spends a lot of the summer in the pool and loves being underwater. He's able to pick up a penny off the bottom of the pool (no goggles). I have two questions---in general, is one brand of goggles more comfortable than others? Also, the highest Rx I've seen in swim goggles is -10.00 (our optician no longer carries swim goggles made to order). Would a -10.00 make sense for him, given that he does already do quite well even without goggles? I know the water already provides a natural magnification. My goal is to find something comfortable so that he'll wear it, and to continue to protect his right eye as much as possible. My son has special needs and can speak, but doesn't have enough communication to answer "why" he would wear or not wear goggles, so it's my job to figure out as much in advance as I can for him. Any advice greatly appreciated!! Beverly > The question about swim goggles has me reconsidering prescription swim > goggles for my son. He is blind in his left eye following a retinal [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > wear or not wear goggles, so it's my job to figure out as much in > advance as I can for him. Any advice greatly appreciated!! Beverly Beverly, First, I wish you strength with all of these challenges. A lot to deal with, I'm sure. Second, have you contacted any of the manufacturers of prescription swim goggles *directly* to see whether they *can and will* manufacture lenses in higher minus powers? As you can imagine, there is probably little demand for this, but that doesn't mean that they can't, won't, or--at least--perhaps they know of a manufacturer that will. In terms of comfort: is there ANY way that your son could TRY non-prescription versions of a few of the goggles? The non-prescription versions are fairly inexpensive and may give you a much better idea of what he'll like before you go to the time, trouble, and expense. Next thought: what about a "mask," or a "low-profile" mask like: http://www.usnavysealstore.com/site_map/SEAL_MASK___BLUE_FRAME___CLEAR_LENS.htm Maybe a retailer like http://www.sporteyes.com/vju.htm would be a place to start?? Best of luck.... Neil If he's happy without swim goggles, I'm not sure I'd force them on him. Much of his high myopia is corrected under water by the similarity of the indices of refraction, and there is no particular hazard that I know of to him swimming without (assuming no water soccer, etc. kinds of impact damages). w.stacy, o.d. >>The question about swim goggles has me reconsidering prescription swim >>goggles for my son. He is blind in his left eye following a retinal [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > Neil I definitely don't want to force swim goggles on him. I think that if he has some that aren't uncomfortable, he might be happy to wear them since he'd be able to see better. I also think protecting his eye from the irritant of chlorine would be a good idea. Can you be a little more specific about how much his myopia is corrected under water? I'm only going by what I observe, and seeing that he can pick up a penny at the bottom of the pool tells me he does see awfully well under water. He does spend some time above the water as well, swimming across the pool, catching and throwing a (soft) basketball, etc. Definitely no water soccer allowed in our pool!! :) I failed to mention in my original post that he also has a hearing loss (mild to moderate in one ear, moderate to severe in the other), so he's also without hearing aids in the water. He has to wear ear plugs as well because he still requires ear tubes (at the age of 20). I hate to have him compromised by two such important senses during this time. Still, if he's happy and functioning ok, I won't make him wear swim goggles if he can't tolerate them. Thanks again for your input!! Beverly Neil, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I know that "someone" will make a -15.00, but with the magnification powers of the water, I don't know how necessary that is. (my son's old made to order goggles were in a -15). I only wear readers, so it's hard for me to know how it feels/how things look when undercorrected. Yes, he would be able to try on goggles, although he gets impatient and I usually don't get a good answer about which one is comfortable, which is intolerable, etc. I'm going to call the bigger sporting good retailers and see how many options they have, as well as the bigger optical shops. It's certainly worth a try. I loke the style of the navy seal store mask; looks like it just might be a bit more comfortable. Thanks again for your input!! Beverly >Neil, > Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I know that "someone" will [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >just might be a bit more comfortable. > Thanks again for your input!! Beverly You're more than welcome, Beverly. I've struggled with some pretty complex and disabling eye issues pretty much since birth. The only person that I know who, I believe, has it tougher than I do is my mother ... watching a child's struggles. The underwater magnification issue seems pretty well addressed here: http://scubageek.com/articles/wwwbigr.html It seems like you get 25-30% magnification, depending on distance. Since your son IS myopic, and since the pool is a confined environment (where water cloudiness could limit his "distance vision" long before the myopia does), MY OPINION would be that there's *nothing* wrong with an undercorrection in the goggle, BUT... ...since you're (rightfully) so cautious with your son, I'd rather the docs on this site weigh in. They may well be exactly right about there being no long-term ill effects known to be associated with unprotected swimming, but ... as a dry eye patient ... I just don't see a lot of good in it. Tough choice. Again, best of luck. |
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