Should I Wear Contacts
While Playing Sports?

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Many athletes with vision problems would rather take off their glasses and play with faulty vision, than be burdened with uncomfortable glasses that fog up and fall off. After weighing the pros and cons of wearing glasses while playing sports, it is clear why not wearing glasses may be the better choice. However, with the technology available today, an even better option is available to athletes. Contact lenses provide athletes with the best of both worlds: better vision that does not impede their sport's performance.

You can wear contact lenses when playing sports but the trick is to know which one is the best one for that. There are a number of experts who believe that the best contact lenses for athletes are rigid gas permeable contacts (RGP) for a variety of reasons.

They won't leave your cornea 'gasping' for air

While all contact lenses are designed to be permeable to oxygen, RGP contact lenses allow even more oxygen to get through to the cornea than soft contact lenses.

They won't get clogged up with protein deposits

Athletes always perspire while in action, and in some cold-weather sports, tears also form during play. The combination of tears and perspiration causes the eyes to produce protein deposits that can cloud up the contact lenses. All contacts will cloud up eventually with enough accumulated debris; however, RGP contact lenses build up deposits at a much slower rate than soft contacts. The result is enhanced comfort and vision during play.

They keep your eyes well moisturized

Dry eyes benefit greatly from RGP contact lenses since they were designed to keep the eyes well moisturized. Unlike soft contact lenses that absorb water from the eyes' tear film, RGP contact lenses leave the water content of the tear film intact.

They allow for sharper vision

RGP contact lenses have more structure than soft contacts; therefore, they retain their shape and abolish the need to refocus with blinking. Seeing more clearly and more consistently throughout a sports game can make the difference between winning and losing.

There is a different kind of contact lens to suit every sport. In many outdoor sports where it is inconvenient to have to continually clean contact lenses, daily disposable contacts are available. For cold-weather sports where dry eyes can pose a huge problem, RGP contact lenses are a great solution.

Nonetheless, glasses may be the best solution for dry eyes. There is no direct contact with the tear film so dryness is greatly reduced. Glasses also shield the eyes from harsh winds that can quickly evaporate tears and propagate dry eye irritation. Besides for being better for dry eyes, glasses may be the better choice in sports where eye protection is required as well.