UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi All.

I am going on holiday to egypt very soon and i wanted to find out from other peoples experiences if i should be ok doing the following:
Snorkelling, Skuba Diving, Kitesurfing.

I am 19 months post graft, have 6 stitches left in, have good vision with glasses and have my first Toric contact lens on order (helpful for wearing a diving mask, otherwise i would have to chop off my glasses arms and superglue the bridge to my nose
When kitesufing i intend to wear some protective sunglasses with a prescription insert, does anyone know of a good 'goggle' style pair of prescription sunglasses i can get?

Any other useful info would be appreciated.

Cheers

Tom

Hi Tom

Great to hear things going well. I have found this site on internet as I am starting back at football tonight so needed some protective glasses. There is pictures on the left hand side for different activities and also one for prescription lenses.

http://www.uksportseyewear.co.uk/section.php?xSec=6

Also a site called aquasphere that does stuff like that too I believe.

Let us know how you get on

hi tom,
i am glad to hear it is all going well. i have had no problem with scuba diving/snorkelling and although i haven't tried kite-surfing, i have sailed on some pretty fast offshore racing yachts (reaching speeds of 21knots). i obviously found at that speed that protective eyewear is essential, and i have a pair of prescription wraparound sunglasses, and a new pair of wraparound 'transitions' to wear at dusk and dawn and through the night.
you can get prescription lenses for snorkelling masks , but i am not sure how costly they are.
in egypt you must be careful about the water... rinse your hands and face with bottled water and use solutions to clean lenses...
i travelled with 'blephadosis' wipes which are hygenic and can be used to clean the inside edge of the eye. they are meant for another condition, but my opthalm approved them, and i used them because they are individually wrapped and very handy for wiping hands and eyes on the boat etc...
if you can- take a spare lens incase you lose yours
and- the nile valley is REALLY VERY dry- so lots of rewetting drops...
most of all- try not to worry ... and enjoy yourself
melissa

At 19 months post graft, i can't see a problem, but I'd still run past my ophthalmologist an idea of what i had in mind

Be careful, when underwater or even on the water, to make sure that you are wearing a good water-tight mask, and that none of your fellow divers think it is clever to rip off your mask while you are swimming.

Andrew

i would also suggest letting the dive master (and obviously your buddy) know that you cannot take your mask off underwater. that way they will know what is going on if you indicate a problem with your eyes and surface.... but the red sea is so calm and wonderful... there shouldn't be any problem...
i am very jealous.... the diving in the red sea is the greatest...