Warnings about eye pressure from swim goggles

Swimming has taken center stage in recent weeks with the Beijing Olympics and the extraordinary performances by Michael Phelps for the US and Federica Pellegrini and Alessia Filippi for Italy.

But swimming doesn't just mean hi-tech swimsuits, it's also goggles for everyone, professionals or enthusiasts.

So it's of general interest to know that, according to an Australian research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, using swim goggles temporarily increases intraocular pressure. The research was carried out on 15 relatively young adults (8 men and 7 women), who wore the thirteen most popular models among public pool users. The study showed that the protective rubber band presses on the blood vessels and contributes to raising pressure inside the eyes.

The researchers measured the pressure after two minutes and again after twenty minutes. The results showed that wearing goggles significantly increases intraocular pressure by an average of 4.5 ± 3.7 mm of mercury. The data are irrespective of gender, orbit shape and the length of the rubber band. The duration also seems to have little effect as there was no particular difference between the measurement taken after two and twenty minutes, which means that the rapid increase in pressure takes place as soon as the rubber band is applied.

On the other hand, the effects of pressure are more important the smaller the goggles. The researchers recommended that doctors should warn patients who suffer from glaucoma.