bails: painful water in the eyes

Greg Smith · Posted: Aug 22, 2008 1:50 pm Post subject: bails: painful water in the eyes

I'm sure most of you have experienced a faceplant with your eyes wide open. You get some water in the eyes and it takes probably 30-40 seconds before your able to open them again. It sucks! The other day this happened, and I noticed that later on I had some slight bruising under my eyelids. This ever happen to anyone?

Fossilfuelburner · Newbie Joined: 29 Jul 2006 Posts: 36 City: San Jose

I've asked the same question to my friend who's an eye doctor. He's experienced face plants and said that the pain / mild trauma to the eyes causes your your eyes to close. Even if you want to open them, you're involuntary muscles think there is something wrong and don't let you open them. Which makes sense if you think about it.

grip01 · Outlaw Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 120 City: altus

Thats no fun but worse than that is a water enima.ewww feels like you've been violated. Puppy Eyes

Greg Smith · Posted: Aug 22, 2008 4:21 pm Post subject:

Fossilfuelburner, it does make sense for sure. It didn't really concern me too much until I saw a little bit of bruising but.... as long as their are no longer term effects, it's all good!

Grip01, I blew my eardrum a few years back trying blind 3s. I know your pain!

grip01 · Outlaw Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 120 City: altus

Sometimes it will go up your nose and come out your eyes.

nickl011 · Posted: Aug 22, 2008 5:03 pm Post subject:

What's worse is when you're wearing contacts on that kind of a fall. I had to go to the ER to get them out.

V8 Killer · Outlaw Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 207 City: Bridgeport

Baker0788 · Criminal Joined: 04 Aug 2008 Posts: 60

get lasic eye surgery and you won't have to worry about it, its the best thing i've ever done

V8 Killer · Outlaw Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 207 City: Bridgeport

david-d · Guest

V8 Killer, is that your Supra?

chewyjr15 · Newbie Joined: 19 Aug 2008 Posts: 16

im curious what did the er do to get them out?

V8 Killer · Outlaw Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 207 City: Bridgeport

wakeskater17 · Newbie Joined: 19 Aug 2008 Posts: 20 City: Beaverton

nickl011 · Posted: Aug 23, 2008 4:45 pm Post subject:

I just had to roll my eyes around reeally far so the doc could see it. Then he just plucked it out like you normally would. Not a fun experience.

SeaLyon · Posted: Aug 24, 2008 10:45 am Post subject:

I wear contacts, but not when i'm on the boat.
nickl011, I bet you could fill up your boat with the Doctor $$ Thats a bummer

nickl011 · Posted: Aug 24, 2008 10:50 am Post subject:

SeaLyon, def true. This was a couple years ago, so I don't remember the bill.

david-d · Guest

V8 Killer, sick! got any more photos? pm me if you want, i'd love to see more of that car

SeaLyon · Posted: Aug 25, 2008 5:05 am Post subject:

I got one for you. Laughing

kevoLFwake · Outlaw Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 132

i wear my contacts when i board... i hope i wont have to go to a doc to get them plucked out!

SeaLyon · Posted: Aug 25, 2008 9:13 am Post subject:

hopefully they'll just get washed out Laughing

intotheflats · Posted: Aug 25, 2008 12:15 pm Post subject:

jsweat · Criminal Joined: 20 Apr 2007 Posts: 72 City: Jacksonville

i never wear my contacts when i ride so they wont get forced up into my eye sockets. i had that happen once and ended up finding one contact 4 hours later when it decided to come down to the corner of my eye

OuachitaWaker · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2006 Posts: 577 City: Hot Springs

i always wear my contacts when i ride, if they come out.. then they come out...

but ive never had them get stuck up in there! Shocked

V8 Killer · Outlaw Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 207 City: Bridgeport

My estimated vision in my left eye is 2200 over 20 and in my right eye its 1800 over 20. Or for you contact wearers I'm a -7.0 left and a -5.5 right give or take, changing with every visit.

Translation to plain English: If I don't wear my contacts I won't even be able to see the boat, much less the wake.

jsweat · Criminal Joined: 20 Apr 2007 Posts: 72 City: Jacksonville

my contact are -2.0 in both eyes and has been the same for like 6 or 7 years just cant afford lasik

SeaLyon · Posted: Aug 26, 2008 11:43 am Post subject:

I have a +1.75 and a +4.00 But I can buy a pair of 1.75 walmart readers and see way better ?? go figure. Rolling Eyes

Iman · Outlaw Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 116

I'm an optometrist. I switched from slalom skiing to wakeboarding partially due to all the water in the eyes while on the slalom messing up my contact lens aided vision. I've had Lasik over 10 yrs now but still mainly wakeboard but either way that's probably the biggest benefit of Lasik to me.

If you faceplant hard enough you can definitely get bruising around the eyes whether you closed your eyes or not. And I understand the blink reflex but for sure you can hit the water before getting your eyes closed, I've done it a few times. Eyes closed or open, some people can get contacts behind their eye far enough that it doesn't come out easily. In school there was even a story of someone having repeated eye infections during a year or so period and finally a sharp doctor really looked hard and found a contact "behind" this person's eye.

Btw, the contact can't actually go back so far that it's actually behind the eye and get to the brain, etc but they can get pretty far back there, depending on how your eye is anatomically designed, people with deep set eyes are usually more prone to being able to get a contact behind their eye.

To find lost contacts, I usually put a yellow dye in the eye that will color the contact then wait a minute or so until most of the dye is out of the eye so the contact will be easier to see. Then I have the patient look real low, etc as I pull up the eyelid and look around with a light. I can use a UV light to make the yellow contact stand out even more and sometimes I flip the eyelid over (everting) and even sometimes lift up the lid after it's flipped (double everting). I found 2 contacts in one older woman's eye one time who mentioned she often woke with a lens missing and never found it. Realize though that most who come to me thinking they "lost" a contact behind their eye don't have a contact in their eye. I guess it's possible that I just couldn't find it, interestingly I have found contacts in eyes where ER, etc doctors said no contact was back there).

Also, you know you shouldn't expose your contacts to water, they could get contaminated. Of course there really isn't much other option in most cases. For wakeboarding I used one time use, daily disposable contacts. A Clearcare type cleaner would be better than multipurpose if you do plan to reuse them. Also remember your contact lens case could get contaminated and throw it away monthly during wakeboard season or at least boil it.

V8 Killer · Outlaw Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 207 City: Bridgeport

Excellent post Iman, thanks for all that good info!

I also wear daily throw away contacts as its much healthier, especially when you get in that petri dish we call a lake!

Cheers,

Dusty

Jensen · Posted: Aug 27, 2008 6:47 pm Post subject:

Iman, figure i'd ask this why'll your at it. I have the contacts that are good for a month at a time, is there a probable risk of wearing them for a month at a time straight without taking them out? i know there are the "possible risks and this isn't recommended" but am i really be reckless by wearing them for a few weeks straight?

V8 Killer · Outlaw Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 207 City: Bridgeport

Iman is obviously 50 times more qualified to answer this than I am. However, having "been there, done that" let me stress how crucial it is your take your contacts out virtually every night.

If you don't have once-a-days I'd highly recommend cleaning them the night after every lake session to kill all the living junk that may be on them. But once you get used to wear-and-chunk you'll never go back. The convenience and health factors are plenty enough to justify their minor additional cost.

Regards,

Dusty

Big Al · Posted: Aug 27, 2008 9:53 pm Post subject:

My buddy got a pretty bad infection in his eye recently, from wearing his contacts for weeks at a time without removing them...you really really dont want that, he could barely see for like a week, and had to wear glasses with sunglasses over them everywhere.

(Dont leave them in dude...)

Ash · Newbie Joined: 30 Jul 2008 Posts: 6 City: Vancouver

Sadly I can't get Lasik either, I'm not in my home country and my prescription changes every time I go and get an eye exam.

I wear monthly contacts, and have to wear the when boarding, can be a pain in the ass when I crash and it gets blurry for a bit until they come right.

Greg Smith · Posted: Aug 28, 2008 3:04 pm Post subject:

Wow, I didn't know my post would unite all the contact wearing wakeboarders out there. Hahaha, nice!

V8 Killer · Outlaw Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 207 City: Bridgeport

SeaLyon · Posted: Aug 29, 2008 9:40 am Post subject:

Iman great info. I'm fairly new to the contact thing, and had lots of questions / thoughts about which contacts to get but i think you answerd it for me Laughing

For me it's all about reading, so I don't have a problem not wearing them while boarding