Is it safe to wear contact lens while swimming?

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Contact lenses should never be used while swimming. Contact lenses should never come in contact with water and patients are educated to never use water to clean or store lenses. Some people feel that wearing lenses underwater can help them see better, this thought could perhaps have come in the mind of a professional swimmer or coach. But unfortunately wearing contact lenses will not improve vision underwater. The reason for this being that the eye is designed to work on the basis of a difference in the refractive index. To put it in a simple way, the difference in the refractive index between the eye and air is large, hence vision is clear, whereas the difference in refractive index is very small between our eye and water, thus leading to blurred vision. The only way to see clearly underwater is by using watertight swimming goggles, which have a layer of air in front of the eye, thus bringing back the difference in the refractive index. Swimmers with the refractive error may use contact lenses with their swimming goggles. Coming to the harmful effects of contact lens usage in water, the most important being bacterial infections of the cornea, called keratitis. The commonest organism being pseudomonas. Pseudomonas is a very prolific bacteria, this organism is the bane of every ophthalmologist thanks to a special trait it exhibits of boring through an intact and healthy cornea setting up deep-seated hard to cure diseases. The most characteristic organism seen would be acanthamoeba, this organism is ubiquitous and infects untreated swimming pools and many natural water sources like rivers, tanks, lakes, etc., in which people swim in during hiking and outdoor activities. All causes of such a corneal ulcer will need emergency hospital admission and treatment with intensive monitoring for signs of recovery. If at all you are interested in wearing lenses while swimming, the best option would be to use daily disposable lenses which can be disposed after swimming. Rigid lenses mostly will slip off the eye while swimming. Soft lenses usually are retained in the eye but will absorb most of the bacteria, chemicals like chlorine, etc., used for treating the water. This can set up a lot of inflammation and cause redness, irritation and blurred vision. To conclude, I would say that wearing lenses underwater will not help you see well. This blurring underwater can be overcome by wearing swimming goggles, but not by contact lenses. Contact lens use while swimming will only cause serious eye problems and is to be best avoided.