Author: Joel Harrison
Posted: 7 January 2012 11:16
Although swimming is a very healthy activity and is recommended by most doctors, swimming with contact lenses in your eyes can have disastrous consequences, eye care experts warn.
In her article written for Yahoo! Sports, Rebecca Bardelli deals with the issue in detail. According to her, wearing contact lenses while swimming can lead to various forms of keratitis, especially acanthamoeba keratitis. Acanthamoeba is a one-cell parasite that can be found in, for instance, tap water and swimming pools (it can survive chlorination). It can easily infect the eye, causing dangerous inflammation of the cornea.
Acanthamoeba keratitis is extremely painful and, in some cases, may result in permanent loss of vision. What is interesting, the condition is usually diagnosed in contact lens users (according to data provided by Center for Disease Control, one or two cases of acanthamoeba keratitis per one million contact lens wearers occur in the US every year).
In order to avoid the infection, contact lens users who need strong vision correction should buy prescription goggles and wear them instead of lenses.
