A contact lens that shifts every time you move during a workout is distracting at best and dangerous at worst. A lens that slides off-center during a heavy lift or a sprint can scratch your cornea if you reflexively rub your eye mid-exercise. Here is why it happens and how to fix it.
Dryness During Exercise Makes Lenses Float
Exercise increases your heart rate and body temperature. Your tear film evaporates faster, especially if you are breathing heavily through your mouth. A lens that was perfectly stable at rest begins to slide as the tear film underneath it thins. The solution is rewetting drops designed for contact lenses, applied immediately before your workout. A drop in each eye hydrates the tear film and keeps the lens in place for the duration of a typical hour-long workout.
Your Blink Pattern Changes During Exercise
During intense physical exertion, people blink less frequently and less completely. Incomplete blinking leaves a gap between your upper eyelid and the lens surface. Each partial blink nudges the lens slightly upward instead of reseating it. Over the course of a workout, the nudging accumulates into noticeable lens movement. The fix is conscious full blinking between sets or during rest intervals. It sounds trivial. It works.
If the Lens Is Inside Out
An inside-out lens will always move more than a correctly oriented one, and the movement is more noticeable during exercise because of the higher blink rate and head movement. Before your workout, check the lens orientation. Place it on your fingertip. If the edges flare outward like a saucer, flip it. If they curve up like a bowl, it is correct.
Colored contacts should stay stable during any exercise that does not involve water. Our Berry Series and Earl Series use an 8.6mm base curve that fits most eyes securely during activity. Read more about wearing contacts to the gym. Browse stable lenses.