How are contact lenses in the cockpit?
 

Evening,

This is a question for those professional pilots who wear contact lenses to the office. I currently wear monthly disposable soft lenses and am a few hours into the PPL course.

I'd be interested in knowing about how you find wearing contacts in the cockpit? Is there no noticable difference to when you wear them on the ground or in everyday life? I understand that the humidity is fairly low in most aircraft and this can lead to excessive drying - the slightly lower oxygen-content in the air has also been suggested to cause problems. I'm currently reading a very interesting paper that looks at pilots and contact lens wear but am interested in any firsthand comments.

I've recently read of a new (to me at least) type of contact lens made of silicone hydrogel which, apparently, allows something like 10 times more oxygen to the eye and is suitable for extended wear due to it not drying out as quickly as other types.

Like I say, just curious as I hope to go on to the professional licence and would like to know what some pilots wear and prefer. After a long day, my visual acuity can deterioate somewhat due to, I assume, drying out of the lens and corneal swelling (apparently caused by hypoxia...hence my interst in looking into hydrogels).

An intrigued,

V1R

Hi V1R,

I have been wearing contact lenses for quite some time now (25 year) and have tried them all at some point (Soft / Gas Perm / Hard) - the ones I have now are indeed highly oxygenated and are the most comfortable that I have ever worn.

The only thing I find an issue is not actually when flying, but after we have landed. If its a hot day, when taxying, the instructor/ examiner used to just put his door ajar to get some fresh air -

This used to cause me loads of problems with dust being whooshed about in the cockpit - I ask them not to unlatch the door until we stop no matter how uncomfortable.

Doesn't happen many times of course in the UK - but has happened 2 or 3 times while training.

GV

I currently wear the silicon type contact lenses, and find them much better than the normal soft contacts.

For flying I have no problems, although after about 12 hours of wear my eyes can get tired and on occasion ache.
But then 12 hours is a long time!

You can also sleep in them, but I've never tried this and don't really want to.

Thanks for the replies - had a quick chat with my optician a few days ago and found out that the silicone lenses will be available soon for my slight astigmatism (my short/long distance vision is good) - I'll have to get me some.

Cheers,

V1R

Silicone lenses
 

I have worn contacts for about 10 years - monthly disposables at the moment. I tried the silicone ones but found they dried out very quickly at altitude (I fly 737). So went back to "normal" permeable (sp?) soft lenses.

The silicone ones were very comfortable on the ground (days off) so may well be fine for private flying.....

Cheers piton. Interesting.

V1R

If you want your contact lenses to work properly in flight it's important to avoid lens dehydration.

To do this you must be :
1) wearing the right sort of lenses, some dehydrate more quickly than others,
2) keep hydrated by drinking enough water, and
3) BLINK lots

If your optometrist doesn't seem to understand the issues, find one that does
:)

I have worn contacts for 20 years now and have tried all the soft lenses, the hard ones have never suited me.

Until about two years ago I had been wearing the daily disposable lenses and to be honest wearing them far to much. I would put them in at 4am if I was flying earlies and end up taking them out at 10pm. I had no discomfort with them but they did make my eyes quite bloodshot and my optician gave me a hard time over it. He suggested I switch to the monthly extended wear disposables. I put them in on the 1st of the month and leave them in until the 30/31 month. They are amazing my eyes have lost all the redness and sleeping in them is no problem at all, its like having 100% vision again.

I fly close on 900 hours a year and have no problems at all with them drying out or anything. I would recommend them to anyone to at least try and they cost the same as the old daily disposables. :ok:

Cheers nelepope & batty.

I'm currently using monthly disposables which I take out at night as they're not suitable for continuous wear. I have negligible short-sightedness - my prescription is mostly astigmatism...which means I need so-called "toric" lenses - my optician tells me that continuous wear toric lenses which are suitable for my prescription should be available fairly soon...keepin' my (slightly astigmatic) eyes peeled for them :O

Definately worth looking at by the accounts on this thread :ok:

V1R

Batty,
are they really that much better than dailys? I use dailys for sport & socialising but have so far shied away from wearing them to work because they tend to dry out :sad: anyway after a long day.

Cheers.

I found the extended wear monthlies great dont dry out at all. Give them a go the optician will give you a free trial Im sure.

Batty

What is the product name of the monthly lenses you are using please? I'd like to give them a try as I've had the same bloodshot eye problem after a long day with daily wears and have taken to wearing specks again when flying.

Thanks Antman

They are Bausch and Lomb Pure Vision, I get them from Specsavers. Think I pay about £20 a month including aftercare. The only problem I have with them is forgetting to change them each month they are that comfortable.

Thanks Batty I'll give them a go.:cool:

batty,

I currently wear daily disposables but am interested in your monthly wear lenses as it sounds less trouble than struggling to put them in every morning and I find that mine dry out sometimes. My present lenses are varifocals. Do they make varifocals in the monthly disposables as well?

Sorry Soggy I have no idea...just a pilot Im afraid not an optician but a call to specsavers will get you the answer...:ok:

They are great , I would have had the op it the JAA had approved it. These are the next best thing...a minutes hassle once a month to take out the old ones , chuck them in the bin and plonk in the new ones.

I have recently tried the silicon monthly toric (Bausch and Lomb Pure Vision) soft lenses from Specsavers since I have astigmatism too (up until now I have been using the ones that don't correct astigmatism since they can still correct me to 20/20 or something like that, I'm no optometrist either ha ha).

To be honest, don't know if I was given a dodgy pair or what, but they seemed really uncomfortable - within a few hours my eyes were quite bloodshot so Specsavers have put me back on the others. I still want to try them again though - since the vision was that extra bit sharper.

Let me know how you find them - if they are ok I will revert back.

cheers

CP

P.s. the normal silicon monthly all day all night ones seem fine when I'm flying - I carry some eye drops around with me just in case my eyes do get a bit dry as you can get some that you are allowed to use whilst still wearing your lenses.

Gee my English has got bad - such long sentences !

I have recently picked up a few snippets about contact lenses which have surprised me. I'll pass them on just out of interest.

When correcting for astigmatism, sometimes small weights are used to keep the axis correct. Good lenses are made to fit the curvature of the eyeball. Fluid is wiped under the lens by allowing it to move up and down with a blink. ( don't blink during the flare!!) The brain's ‘correction work-load' for change of image, due to specs lenses not being near the eye, is all but eliminated. Tears are very complicated, and consist of three main layers...the outer being important for stopping evaporation among other things...artificial tears are therefore a poor substitute.

In some cases, dry eyes are treated by plugging the tear drain duct.

This last statement left me somewhat non-plussed to put it mildly. I'll mention my experience because it spells out the importance of that drain.

When my youngest son was born, 12 out of his 18 months was spent on regular tours of doctors and eye specialists, trying to correct a problem of an eyeful of crusty mess. I considered this an urgent matter (pun not intended.) as he had to learn to process data from that eye in his early months. After a frustrating consultation with an eye surgeon, I cut away a membrane from over the duct, and cleared out some fatty tissue. Within two days he was fine. His son had exactly the same problem 30 years later. I just cannot believe that to plug this drain is an acceptable procedure.

Hi Crazypilot. I know what you mean about the silicone hydrogel lenses being uncomfortable, as the first two days I wore them it felt like my eyes were full of grit. But then the next morning, I woke up and my eyes felt really refreshed (they're usually not) and I popped them in and since then they have been realy good. I can wear them much longer than the toric lenses.

I have an astigmatism which means they are weighted, but this is done simply by making the bottom of the lens slightly fatter and thus heavier.

I choose not to sleep with them in, but always wonder if you should shower with them in???? I go swimming wearing them, but never am sure about the shower?!!

In fact, I was so happy after my trial period, that I signed up to get them only yesterday!

These seem the next best thing to have laser treatment.

G-ANDY

Hi G-ANDY !

As for wearing them in the shower, I do all the time, never had a problem with them falling out or anything like that. It's nice being able to clearly read what's on the shower gel bottle too (not that it's that interesting...)

As for the lenses, do you mean that you wear the normal silicone hydrogel ones now or the silicone hydrogel toric ones? There are so many lenses on the market I am getting confused now! With the normal ones that I have, I have slept in them a few times (well not really purposely, it was just that when I was at uni they have £1 pints all night at the student union from time to time:) )

As for your observation Loose rivets , that really is a bit baffling to say the least. Confused me anyways. As for fake tears versus eye drops, my tears seem to run out half way through the day characterized by my eyes feeling increasingly like they have solid lenses in them and the drops are the only solution no matter how much water I drink. Really annoying to be honest, don't know what the solution is!


Cheers

CP