WAG Eyeglasses and gymnastics

[gymgal]

I am impressed and encouraged that your nine-year-old daughter manages them on her own, too! How was the learning curve for her to learn to use them? Were they painful at first?

My dd was 10 when she got her contacts. she hated anything near her eyes but she was very determined. She asked the tech to place the first one in her eye so she could get a feel for it, then she was able to do the second one. From the beginning, she took care of the whole routine on her own. I think I watched for about a week and then faded supervision. But I will say she is unusually particular in general. She is a "by the book" type of person. I know for sure I would not have given my sons the same independence, for fear of repeated eye infections, losing of contacts, etc. I know of several children who have started wearing contacts as early as 5 and 6. Most used daily s at that age, though, which don't require the cleanings. Dd has always had the monthly contacts.

 

[GymMomXcel]

My daughter is 10. She wears glasses all the time. She is not ready for contacts, in our opinion..knowing how she acts just when they need to put drops in her eyes! But she has the thinner wire framed glasses that she wears and they never fall down or come off. If she tries to wear her thicker plastic glasses that don't have nose pieces, they do slide down, though. So far her wire framed glasses with the nose pieces have held up for both practices and meets just fine, though.

 

[MVJ]

I've seen lots of gymnasts wear eyeglasses. I wore glasses to gym, because I could barely distinguish the beam from the mat below it. :ill: Not good!! I had a very lightweight plastic pair (without nose pads). I had first gotten a glasses strap like the one in the photo iwannabemargo posted, but it pushed down my ears. I got another pair that had elastics at the ends of the strap, and you would tie it onto the glasses' arms. First strap was easier to put on though!

I've seen some girls who have glasses that stayed put without any strap at all, but the arms of their glasses are very curved and hooked around the ear. Sort of like this:



I got contacts when I was 12. I find it's much better than glasses (no worries of them falling off, full vision without obscurity from glasses arms). I use daily contact lenses where you wear a pair, and toss it out after a day--so no cleaning required.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

DD has worn glasses since she was 3. She is 8 turning 9, and never takes them off, morning to night. She could never do gym without them. She has never had a strap, and is on 3rd or fourth pair since starting gym (because of prescription changes). NONE have fallen off. She is L7, does twisting layouts, BHS BHS on beam, aerials, back tucks on beams, has started flipping tsuks, and has had no problems. I've suggested a strap, as I'm convinced our luck will eventually run out but she is adamant that she stay the course.

i do not think she is ready for contacts - she can barely keep track of her retainer

 

[Granny Smith]

My dd is also one of those people who is blind without glasses and both eyes have astigmatisms. She went to contacts at 8. I did not want her wearing glasses in the gym. I wasn't concerned about the glasses falling off, but more concerned about her falling on a skill and hitting her face. Now not only would I have to worry about the fall, but what damage having glasses on could of done. To me, it's not like other sports, if you fall in gymnastics you can hitting equipment and just thinking the damage the beam or bars or vault could do was enough for me to push for contacts. When she 1st got the contacts, she couldn't put them in, but she could get them out. So I put the contacts in for about the 1st 3 weeks, then she finally got the hang of it and was on her own.

I am happy to say that she has never fallen and hit her face on any equipment, which was my worst fear back then, but she has fallen and ate mat on tumble trak and landing on an 8 incher.

 

[coachmolly]

I started wearing glasses at 6, 2 years before I even started gym, so it was a no brainer that I would wear them to practice This was back in the late 90s, so options for frames were much more limited and I typically wore light weight plastic frames that stayed on fine for the most part. Though I do recall one time when I was doing ro-bhs-bhs and my glasses flew off during the first bhs. I was so startled and unsure of what to do that I bailed a bit too late on the 2nd bhs and landed flat on my back. I eventually started wearing a strap all the time. It was a Croakies brand, like the ones worn on sunglasses, but adjusted to fit snugly around my head.
I tried contacts at 10 but really struggled with them, but contacts have come a long way since then! I ultimately went back to glasses for a few more years before giving contacts another go at about 12. My vision is ver bad so I went to see a Pediatric Opthamologist who gave me the gas permeable hard contacts to help stop the shape changes in my eyes, though I wore them all day. My eyes are very sensitive and I ended up getting corneal ulcers on 2 occasions from the lenses which have left me with scar tissue on my eyes. They had to switch me back to soft contacts because of all the problems, just a warning for those looking into hard contacts to help shape the cornea. My eyes eventually stopped changing without them. At about 22 .

 

[Seeker]

Much progress has been made in the use of OrthoK/hard lenses in the past several years. The risk of eye issues is there for anyone wearing contacts, but it is minimized a great deal by advances in the technology, usage and care instructions and keeping all follow-up appointments with Dr's, etc. I read lots of studies and information before we decided to try them and hopefully we won't have any issues (knock on wood).

 

[coachmolly]

Much progress has been made in the use of OrthoK/hard lenses in the past several years. The risk of eye issues is there for anyone wearing contacts, but it is minimized a great deal by advances in the technology, usage and care instructions and keeping all follow-up appointments with Dr's, etc. I read lots of studies and information before we decided to try them and hopefully we won't have any issues (knock on wood).

Yeah, my issue was just a really freak thing, the Drs were pretty confused when it happened. It was just the right combination of sensitive eyes and contacts. I just happen to be a person that, if there is a side effect possible, I'll probably experience it. I just thought I would put it out there in case any CBers have kiddos who like to throw the Drs for a loop .

 

[gymnastbeth]

But the one time she voided a vault b/c she thought the judge saluted her (she couldn't see at the end but thought she saw a hand go up.), she decided, come heck or high water, she would be wearing contacts by the next season.

That's exactly what happened to me at one meet! I never wore my glasses to gymnastics, so I could never see the judge saluting for vault. I used to have somebody stand next to me and tell me when the judge saluted.

The glasses always fell off my face, and I hated wearing them to practice, even though I have awful vision. When I was 11 I got contacts, and never looked back.

 

[fuzi]

I've coached many a rec and compulsory gymnast who wore glasses. By level 6, most used a strap for security (you really don't want to be blind during a salto or looking for the beam on a back walkover). Almost everyone I have coached with glasses ended up wearing contacts by the optional levels, if not much earlier, and all reported that they like contacts better once they got used to them. I know one nine year old level 4 kept eye drops where everyone kept their grip bags, so she could moisten her contacts which sometimes got irritated by chalk.

Whatever they wear, glasses or contacts, do wear vision correction if needed. It's amazing the difference I've see as a coach when a kid tells me they wear glasses (but not at gym), and then start wearing them to practice.

 

[gymmiemom]

DD was in a similiar situation a few months ago. She has always left her glasses off for practice/meets until the last few months. She left them on for practice one day and her she was amazed at how much easier everything was because she could see! She wears plastic frames and she has at this point had no issues with them falling off. Tonight she performed with them on for our gyms open house perfomance and I was worried she would lose them on her tumbling pass (ROBHSBHS) and they didn't even wiggle.

She's only 7 so I don't think she is ready for contacts yet, but I told her we would consider them in a year or two if she really wants them. She absolutely refuses to wear a strap (yes, I know I could make her ) because it feels "funny."

 

[mylittlemiss]

My daughter has been in glasses since age 11 months and in gymnastics since age two. She's always worn her glasses in the gym. When she was little she had the glasses with the ear piece that wrapped around the back of her ear. As she's grown older, she just uses a strap. She's 7 now (almost 8), training level 7 and she does very well with them in the gym.

Her strap is very similar to this one. Works great! She never asks to not wear her glasses to gymnastics, we've been lucky with that. I think she knows that she can't see well without them.

 

[erindel]

i am so glad to have read this thread. my daughter is 12 and training level 7. she wears glasses..started off without wearing them at practice but realized she could not see so now she wears them. she does not use a strap and sees much better. we have been thinking about contacts but she is a little apprehensive to try. her doctor did suggest those contacts worn at night only, does insurance cover them? i was thinking maybe the one a day contacts would be good to start out with so she does not have to clean them daily. i know secretly she would love the freedom of having no glasses on her face. i am kind of nervous though about contacts because i know nothing about how to put them in or take them out so i feel i would not be able to help her much if she got stuck with them. i am afraid too that one day she will break them and the glass will go into her eye..thats a big fear of mine.

 

[Ingwe]

My daughter wears glasses but has never worn them for practice or meets. She always claimed that she sees fine in that regard.

At a recent meet she was getting ready to vault, the judge saluted her and she just stood there. This went on for a few minutes and we were saying, what is she doing, why isn't she going? Finally her coach walked down and asked her what was going on and my daughter says "oh I can go, I can't see that far" she is a level 9!!!

Moral of the story, she obviously can't see fine and is now wearing contacts

 

[gymnastbeth]

i am afraid too that one day she will break them and the glass will go into her eye..thats a big fear of mine.

I think that most daily lenses aren't made of glass, they are soft and flexible/bendable. If it helps to ease any of your fears, I'm pretty sure most contacts these days aren't glass (at least mine aren't).

 

[LiveLoveTumble]

I think that most daily lenses aren't made of glass, they are soft and flexible/bendable. If it helps to ease any of your fears, I'm pretty sure most contacts these days aren't glass (at least mine aren't).

I think she was talking about glasses, not contacts

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

thanks to all for so many great responses. i had dd wear glasses to practices this week, but they bounced off on first back hs. i have shared these responses with her, and she agreed to give the contacts a try. Otherwise, we will get a strap for the glasses. love this forum!

 

[reillysmom2]

My daughter is also 12 and training level 7, and has had to wear glasses/contacts since she was six. At the time she loved trying eyeglasses on when we would go in for my vision but when she found out she had to have glasses she was not a happy camper. I've worn contact since I was 13 myself, so I inquired about getting them for her. We went in for a contact lens fitting with my doctor and I don't know if it was because she had seen me with my contacts so much or what, but she took to them like a duck to water and hasn't looked back and its been 6 years now. She wears the focus dailies that she throws away every day. I didn't want her to have to worry about solutions and cleaning them. I order them online, I pay around 100.00 every 3 months for her supply. Is your child squeamish about eye drops, or touching her eyes? That will play a big role in how well they can adjust to contacts. DD's allergies were bothering her the other day and she wore her glasses to school and I forgot to bring her contacts to put in at practice (we didn't realize until we got to the gym, and its over an hour away) so she wore her glasses to practice for the first time and she said it was a definite difference, not being able to see out of the side of the glasses, or when she would look down she would have a moment where it was a bit blurry. Or when she tumbled and they ended up on her forehead and everything was blurry! LOL But I have to say that her vision is pretty bad and not wearing glasses or contacts isn't an option. She is very nearsighted, I think her prescription is -5.50 in the left and -6.5 in the right. The daily contacts are very thin since they aren't designed to be worn more than a day, and very comfortable because of that.