Why Do I Get Blurry Vision After Swimming?

It is fair to say that no one would want to swim in a petri dish of germs and algae. The reality is that without Chlorine, every swimming pool would be in this condition. Just think about it, many different bodies use a swimming pool, get exposed to multiple temperature changes, and get contaminated by spores of various types.

It is generally incorrect pH levels of swimming pool water that cause skin issues, dry and tangled hair, and blurry eyes. It can cause pink eye or conjunctivitis, red, irritated eyes, Acanthamoeba keratitis, and the possible disruption of the tear film in the eye.

The cost of having a great time in a swimming pool is sometimes a swimmer's eye which can suffer from irritation, burning, redness, itchiness, blurred vision, discharge, and swollen eyelids.

Two Reasons Why Your Eyes Get Blurry After Swimming

Although chlorine is often blamed for blurry vision after swimming, this is not the case. The two reasons are.

1. Too Little Chlorine In The Pool Causes Blurry Vision.
2. Unbalanced pH Levels Causes Blurry Vision After Swimming.

Too Little Chlorine In The Pool Causes Blurry Vision

Chlorine gets a bad rap when assigning the blame for swimmers getting blurry vision after swimming.

Pool maintainers are accused of putting too much Chlorine in the pool as the cause of blurry vision after swimming.

Chlorine prevents many eye issues such as blurry vision after swimming despite these mistaken beliefs.

Chlorine combines with other chemicals (nitrogen or ammonia) and forms chloramine. It is chloramine that causes a strong chlorine smell. Chloramine in fact can irritate the eyes.

Unbalanced pH Levels Causes Blurry Vision After Swimming

The pH level of a swimming pool's water measures acidity in the water. If the pH is 7, or less, on a scale of 0-14, the water is acidic. If the pH is 8 or above, it has too high alkalinity.

To increase the pH, the pool maintainer adds alkalines, such as soda ash, and to reduce the pH, the maintainer adds acid.

The best pH range for a swimming pool is 7.4 to 7.8. This pH level matches the natural pH levels in a swimmer’s eye, which means no eye irritation.

If the pH level is outside the optimal range, it will also affect nasal passages and remove natural oils on the swimmer’s skin, leaving the skin dry and itchy and hair brittle.

The problems which incorrect pH levels or too little chlorine cause are:

Eye And Skin Irritation

Low pH indicates the water is acidic, and it causes eye and skin irritation and irritation of the nasal passages, and dry and itchy skin.

If the pH is too high, the alkalinity is too high, the same issues caused by a low pH will result.

A human-friendly swimming pool's secret is a carefully controlled pH range of 7.4 to 7.8.

High PH Renders Chlorine Useless

As much as Superman was rendered powerless by Kryptonite, Chlorine is made inactive by pH levels that are too high (too much alkalinity).

In this condition, it doesn't matter how much Chlorine is put into the swimming pool; it will have no impact at all.

Other effects of incorrect pH levels include cloudy water, corrosion, and damaged pool linings.

What Eye Issues Can An Incorrect Ph Cause?

There are several different eye conditions that an incorrect pH will cause. These include.

Pink Eye Or Conjunctivitis Can Occur After Swimming

Conjunctivitis occurs when the blood vessels near the eye's surface become dilated (more prominent or more open).

It can cause the swimmer's vision to become blurry, and in extreme cases, it can result in the swimmer’s sight being compromised.

It can lead to ocular irritation, forcing the swimmers to rub their eyes aggressively and causing corneal abrasions or a secondary infection.

The symptoms of conjunctivitis or red eye are generally short-term and will return to normal once the body restores the eye's Ph.

Top Tip: If you've had eye surgery, stay out of pools — or avoid putting your head underwater — for at least two weeks after the surgery.

The Swimmers Eyes Can Become Dehydrated

If the swimmer spends a long time in the swimming pool during a scorching sunny day, the swimmers’ eyes may become dehydrated.

It results in the swimmers' eyes becoming red and irritated.

There is also a chance that the thin layer of fluid (tears) covering the ocular surface of the eye is stripped away, causing the swimmer's vision to be temporarily blurred or distorted.

It is not a severe condition, and once the eye has replaced the tear layer, the redness and the irritated membrane will calm down.

Acanthamoebic Keratitis Infection Can Occur After Swimming

An amoeba is a single-cell organism that lives in water. There are five species of these parasites which have been found to cause keratitis. These are:

1. Polyphagia
2. Castellani
3. Hatchetti
4. Culbertsoni
5. Rhysodes

Acanthamoebae are present in freshwater, brackish water, and seawater bodies. They are also found in swimming pools, hot tubs, drinking water systems, heating-ventilating-air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, and humidifiers.

Yikes!

But each of these organisms is sensitive to Chlorine. If the pH levels are below 7.8, and the Chlorine is diligently applied, in most instances will destroy the organisms.

If the Chlorine is too low, or the organisms are resistant to Chlorine, they can infect a swimming pool, and if the conditions are right, the pool filtration pump will cause them to spread very fast throughout the swimming pool.

If Chlorine isn't successful, improved purification processes using smaller filter pore sizes will be needed to cure the swimming pool.

Swimmers who wear contact lenses and swim in an infected pool are high-risk targets for Acanthamoebic keratitis. The contact lenses can trap the parasite between the contact lens and the eye cornea.

Swimmers who don't wear contact lenses are also susceptible to this infection, where the organism may enter the eye when it meets an irritation or a cut. It can also be transmitted by the swimmer touching their eyes with infected water on their hands.

Acanthamoebic Keratitis can cause severe infection, leading to corneal ulcers and permanently compromising the swimmer’s vision.

In the worst cases, patients may need corneal transplants to help restore their vision.

Protect Your Eyes From Getting Blurry Vision After Swimming

There are a few simple precautions you can take to reduce the chance of an eye infection occurring while swimming.

Check The Ph Levels To Prevent Blurry Vision

Check the Ph levels of your swimming pool at least weekly. If there have been a lot of thunderstorms in the area, or the weather has been sweltering, it is recommended you check the levels more frequently.

If the pH is below 7.4, add soda ash or bicarbonate soda to reduce the acidity of the water.

If the Ph is 7.8 or above, add acid to reduce the alkalinity of the water.

The lower the Ph is, the better the Chlorine action, so if you are able, it is a good idea to try and maintain the Ph levels at 7.4 – 7.5.

Protect Swimmers’ Eyes From Blurry Vision

The best protection is for all the swimmers to wear goggles. If the goggles are well-fitting, they will keep the swimmer's eyes dry, and no blurry vision will occur.

_{The easy way to protect your eyes while swimming; Image courtesy of Amazon.com}

If the swimmer wears contact lenses, make sure they remove these before swimming. The swimmer should wait for a little while before replacing them on the eyes and diligently follow the opticians' instructions to sanitize the finger used to apply the lenses.

Conclusion

Swimmers get blurry vision after swimming for a few reasons. These are generally not serious, and the blurriness and possible distorted vision will quickly disappear, and the swimmer's eyesight will soon return to normal.

If the swimming pool is infected with one of the five amoeba species, they may contract Acanthamoebic Keratitis. Appropriate medical personnel should treat it as quickly as possible.