Contact lenses and Karate

[Spodo Komodo]

Sorry, bit late to this one but I have been wearing contacts for karate for over ten years. It took a bit of a while to get the right solution and lens combination as some solutions really irritated my eyes and some types of lens just flipped straight out. Eventually I found a combination that I could wear comfortably and I have never looked back, well I've looked back but I didn't have to squint to do so

There are lots of types of lens and solution out there so if you want the convenience of using contacts I would suggest shopping around for something that works. Mind you I am blind as a bat and I don't have the option of wearing glasses - mine cost over £150 quid a pair from the cheapo opticians.

[Rateh]

Mine cost around $200 from a regular american store, Derwentbob. Thats why I buy online. Online mine cost $30.

[Spodo Komodo]

Hi Rateh, that was the online price, a high street optician is slightly more expensive but in the UK you can get a discount on complex prescriptions from the National Health Service so there isn't that much between them. I have a fairly complex prescription and when you include shipping and taxes it bumps the price up greatly. I can get a monthly disposable contact lens that would not allow me to read the fine print in a newspaper but it does allow me enough clarity to practice karate, I just have to swap back to my glasses after the lesson to go home. The requirements for a 2-6 hour karate session and the requirements for driving or reading are quite different and you can often "make do" with much less.

[Fish]

I am +5.5 in one eye, +5 in the other and have mild astigmatism. My sparring without glasses is not great as I have poor peripheral vision. I use contact lenses pretty much only for sports. I use the soft monthly disposables. They are fine for an hour or two, but can be uncomfortable with prolonged use. I've had several incidents of lenses falling out and even (when I did my 30 minute kumite for shodan!) of splitting and becoming unusable. But there's no way I could manage without them.

[ozzymk]

dear All!

thank you for your replies about using contact lenses in karate.

I take off my glasses when I do some exercises and so far I was

quite confortable doing everything without glasses or contact

lenses. Maybe in the future this won't work but at the moment

I am fine. Thank you again to all!

[etali]

It's interesting to read how other people cope. My husband and I are the only two people at our dojo with vision problems. My husband has terrible eyesight in both eyes, but can do just fine in sparring if he takes his glasses off.

I am pretty much blind in one eye, and have good vision in the other. If I take my glasses off to spar, things look clear enough, but I can't judge distances or speeds, and there's definitely something funny about focusing on my opponent because even after one bout I start getting a headache.

I've worn contact lenses in the past, but didn't like wearing them for long periods. I'm thinking of getting some disposable ones to use for Karate.

Those of you who do wear contact lenses - do you have any training related issues? A friend said that they found that getting sweaty + wearing contacts is a bad mix, but I can't see why - what am I missing?

[KarateGeorge]

Getting sweat in the eyes can create minor irritation. Its not unbearable or anything, really just more of an annoyance, but I've noticed on occasion that it does seem to bother me mildly. I'm not sure why that is, as I would think sweat and tears are moderately similar in chemistry, but I guess there's enough of a difference that getting too much sweat in the eyes is and interacting with the contact lens is annoying.

[ninjanurse]

No problems here....wear mine 24/7 and occasionally take them out to clean. A pair of lenses lasts me 90 days and I have never had a problem with them coming out or ripping. Sweat in the eyes happens even without lenses and I really don't haven't noticed irritation either way.