Can You Exercise with Contact Lenses?

For anyone that wears glasses as part of their normal day-to-day life, exercise and other physical activity can be more than a little awkward. When you are getting hot and sweaty, your glasses can steam up – almost rendering them pointless – which leaves many wearers considering contact lenses.

The truth is, contact lenses are not for everyone, with some opting for specialised sports glasses and goggles (especially when participating in contact sports such as football and rugby). If you are wondering ‘can I exercise with contact lenses’ safely and comfortably whilst bouncing around, the answer is yes.

Rather than persevering with glasses, only to take them off and substituting foggy for blurred vision, contact lenses offer greater flexibility for those who require a prescription. This means that walking around the gym where other members are using a variety of equipment is much safer as you will clearly be able to see what is going on around your person.

Contact Lenses Won’t Get Stuck Behind Your Eye

One of the main concerns for anyone when it comes to the prospect of wearing contact lenses whilst exercising is that a lens will become stuck behind your eye. This is nothing but a myth – any foreign object will be pushed against the conjunctiva (the tissue that lines the inside of the eyelid) and washed away with tears.

This means that you need not worry about tales of the time someone’s contact lens was lost behind their eye. This cannot happen. It is possible for a lens to become dislodged from its position and slide under your eyelid, but it can easily be stroked back into position using your finger. As the contact lens moulds to your eye, this is extremely rare.

Can my Contact Lenses Fall Out?

Although this is very rare as the lenses mould to your eyeball, there is a small chance that they could fall out – but to put this into context, it is far more likely that your glasses will fall off your face.

Will Contact Lenses Become Dry When Exercising?

If you are exercising in an indoor setting such as a gym, you should not experience any issues relating to your contact lenses becoming dry. When exercising outdoors or taking part in an activity such as cycling and running, there is a chance that your lenses may dry more quickly than normal. This can be solved with an application of eye drops to keep the lenses hydrated or by wearing protective glasses.

Contact Lenses Will Not Damage Your Eyes if Hit

Some worry that wearing contact lenses will damage their eye if they are directly hit. The absolute worst that will happen in a very rare instance is you will experience only a slight discomfort until the lens is removed from your eye. This would have to be a hard and precise hit to the eye area which, if you were wearing glasses instead of contact lenses, is much more likely to cause serious damage.

Use Disposable Contact Lenses

We would recommend using disposable contact lenses when you are exercising as this will take away the need for maintenance. When you are finished, simply take them out and throw them away and go back to wearing your glasses or your usual set of contact lenses. No solution or case will be required with disposable contact lenses.

Contact Lenses are Safer than Exercising with Glasses

There are many advantages to wearing contact lenses as opposed to glasses whilst exercising, but none more so than the fact it is safer. We have already established that when exercising, your glasses are prone to misting up, but with contact lenses you will also have better peripheral vision.

When playing sports such as football or rugby, where a ball or player could come at you from any direction, having excellent peripheral vision improves safety and your performance. You can also run around freely without having to worry about your glasses falling and having to readjust their position.

With glasses, you also have the added bone of contention with trying to keep the lenses clean and clear. This is especially true when exercising outdoors in wet conditions – the type of weather you wish your glasses came fitted with wipers. Contact lens wearers do not have such issues and are free to run, skip and cycle their way through the wind and rain with nothing affecting their vision, which is far safer if you ever have to navigate roads and busy crossings.

Wearing with Sports Gear

Many sports involve wearing headgear such as helmets, guards and goggles which, while wearing glasses, isn’t the best. There is a reason why you never see a boxer wearing glasses because it simply doesn’t work. Swimmers, equally, would not be able to wear their glasses underneath goggles, instead, they have to make use of contact lenses or having to do without any visual aid at all.

Repair and Maintenance

In the very unlikely event that your contact lenses fall out, it doesn’t take much to wash them and/or dispose of them and put new lenses in. If your glasses fall or are hit, there is a high chance of them breaking which can result in injury to you, as well as expensive repairs or the need to invest in new glasses.

All in all, there are a variety of ways in which you can wind up with broken glasses should you decide to wear them whilst exercising, which is just one of the reasons why you not only can wear contact lenses when working up a sweat, but you probably should.

Whether you are a glasses or contact lens wearer or are fortunate enough not to require either, you can invest in the highest quality gym equipment from UK Gym Equipment.