# Oww! What does chlorine exposure do to my eyes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657 "2008-03-08T23:57:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657/1 "2008-03-08T23:57:41Z")
Yesterday I went swimming at the health club, and there was a lot of chlorine in the water. Besides making my my eyes hurt, I noticed also that it gave me a temporary case of severe astigmatism, which subsided only after about six hours. I think it was astigmatism, because rather than just one blurry image, I saw several sharp images blurrily superimposed, like a badly printed picture in a newspaper. I probably shouldn’t have been driving, but I did manage to get home. On the other hand, close-up vision wasn’t as adversely affected. I can only conclude that the chlorine must have temporarily altered the shape of my lens or cornea. If so, how would that have happened? FTR I had the Lasik procedure about seven years ago. Could it have something to do with that? Since then I’ve always had a small amount of residual astigmatism, but nothing like what I experienced yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657/2 "2008-03-09T00:07:09Z")
I hate to suggest the obvious, but I will: Please see your Ophthalmologist. He knows your eyes better than anyone here. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657/3 "2008-03-09T00:24:35Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] I hate to suggest the obvious, but I will: Please see your Ophthalmologist. He knows your eyes better than anyone here. [/QUOTE] I’m not asking anyone here to cure me. I just want to know the science behind this. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657/4 "2008-03-09T00:28:57Z")
I know you’re not looking to be cured here. What’s more, I apologize for my hasty comment, and hope you get a proper explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657/5 "2008-03-09T03:08:24Z")
My wife (an optometrist) says your cornea could have swollen from the chlorine/burning, causing you to see what you saw. ---
**Author:** ![Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thorium_Indium_Potassium)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657/6 "2008-03-09T03:17:19Z")
Wear goggles. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657/7 "2008-03-09T05:07:21Z")
The goggles, They do nothing! ---
**Author:** ![Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thorium_Indium_Potassium)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oww-what-does-chlorine-exposure-do-to-my-eyes/440657/8 "2008-03-09T05:17:34Z")
[QUOTE=CoG888] The goggles, They do nothing! [/QUOTE] Wear better goggles. 🙂