Contacts or Glasses

[RuralmedAU]

For those of you that are sight impaired. What did you wear during surgery, contacts or glasses?

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[silas2642]

For those of you that are sight impaired. What did you wear during surgery, contacts or glasses?

I wore both. If you wear glasses in the OR, I would suggest that you tape them before you scrub-- you do not want to be the med student who has to get the scrub nurse to push up your glasses every 5 seconds.

 

[futurefamilydoc]

You're technically not supposed to wear contact in the OR. Something about smoke & aerosolized body matter permeating the lenses.

 

[Smurfette]

Wear whatever is most comfortable for you. If you normally wear contacts, wearing glasses can be distracting and uncomfortable. Same thing if you normally wear glasses; contacts can be uncomfortable and irritating to your eyes.

It doesn't matter which you pick....plenty of surgeons like myself wear contacts the majority of the time. If they start bothering you to the point that you can't make it until the end of the case (which is pretty rare), you can always scrub out, deal with the problem, and scrub back in.

If you primarily wear glasses, that's fine. Yes, some people find that their glasses slide down their nose during a case and need others to push them back up (you can't since you're scrubbed and sterile and your glasses are not sterile), but you can always wear straps to keep your glasses up or tape them if necessary. Others find the glare problematic. IMO, most people who wear glasses regularly don't find these things as bothersome as those who normally wear contacts find them.

 

[Smurfette]

You're technically not supposed to wear contact in the OR. Something about smoke & aerosolized body matter permeating the lenses.

That is not true. While there *can* be some absorption of smoke, etc., it is hardly recommended against to the point that it is discouraged or banned. Also, the type of lenses used also make a difference as some absorb more than others (hard v gas permeable v soft). The majority of residents I worked with, including gen surgery, anesthesia, ortho, ENT and ophtho wore contacts rather than glasses if they needed corrective lenses. Same is true for the scrubs and circulating nurses. Most people wear face shields or safety glasses which can also help to minimize irritants reaching your lenses.

 

[ar2388]

For those of you that are sight impaired. What did you wear during surgery, contacts or glasses?

oh wow.. good question. i think i will end up wearing glasses bc my eyes will probably get tired of contacts after so many hours. ive been told not to wear them more than 12 hours at a time.

 

[2012mdc]

oh wow.. good question. i think i will end up wearing glasses bc my eyes will probably get tired of contacts after so many hours. ive been told not to wear them more than 12 hours at a time.

That's the same reason I wore glasses. Didn't want to take the risk of being scrubbed in w/contacts until 8 pm after having them in since 4AM.

 

[flash14]

I am a first year and I was wondering how my situation will work when I get into rotations. I have an eye disorder that does not allow me to wear glasses as they do not correct my vision. I am forced to wear very rigid contacts to correct my vision which presents problems when I have to wear them for very extended period of times (8+ hours). Right now it isn't much of a problem as after class I can take them out for an hour to let my eyes take a break before studying. My question is how is this going to work during rotations? Is there any possibility of taking them out for a bit? I have terrible vision without contacts but after about 8 hours they are extremely dry and start to really bother me.

 

[ar2388]

I am a first year and I was wondering how my situation will work when I get into rotations. I have an eye disorder that does not allow me to wear glasses as they do not correct my vision. I am forced to wear very rigid contacts to correct my vision which presents problems when I have to wear them for very extended period of times (8+ hours). Right now it isn't much of a problem as after class I can take them out for an hour to let my eyes take a break before studying. My question is how is this going to work during rotations? Is there any possibility of taking them out for a bit? I have terrible vision without contacts but after about 8 hours they are extremely dry and start to really bother me.

maybe a good time to see your doc and discuss this situation... probably knows a whole lot more than the people on this forum (me included of course)