A Queensland swimmer has suffered "horrible pain" and damage to his eyes after applying a recalled anti-fog gel to the inside of his goggles.

Darren Lydeamore, who spent three days in hospital, had no idea that Zoggs Australia had recalled the faulty product, and his treating doctor said given the seriousness of his injuries, the recall should have been more strongly worded and better publicised.

Mr Lydeamore said when he applied the Zoggs Fogbuster lens cleaner to his goggles on a routine morning swim at his local pool, he began feeling an intensifying burning sensation in both his eyes.

Mr Lydeamore said he did not know the product had been recalled. ( Supplied: Darren Lydeamore )

"Initially I thought I'll get some eye drops from the chemist on my way to work," he said.

"But then the right eye really started hurting and I had to close it and I couldn't see anything, and the left eye started clouding up.

"I realised this wasn't good. I thought this is silly, this is dangerous, let's turn around and drive back home again."

Tony McLellan, a doctor from the Alice Street Medical Centre in Atherton, was concerned about the level of deterioration he saw in Mr Lydeamore's eyes.

Further treatment was arranged at a local eye clinic before Mr Lydeamore was transported by ambulance to the Cairns Hospital for urgent care.

Dr McLellan said while he had seen some advertisements about the product recall, they varied in description and level of injury.

The ABC saw notices on government websites, including the ACCC, which only specified "may cause irritation and burning sensation to the eyes".

The message on the company website said it "could cause temporary discomfort and short-term eye damage".

"I felt given what I'd seen of the damage this could cause, this was woefully inadequate and I suggested strongly to them to make it much more public," Dr McLellan said.

"At the very least, every swimming pool should be notified in Australia."

Zoggs has apologised to Mr Lydeamore and offered to pay his medical bills.

He's not ruling out legal action and said while his eyes are recovering there is still damage at the moment.

Similar to 'acid splashed in eyes'

Dr McLellan said the damage at the front of Mr Lydeamore's eyes was "fairly typical of when someone has had acid splashed in their eyes".

"The cornea — the clear part of the eye — was completely rough and even with the naked eye I could see a lot of damage to the cornea," Dr McLellan said.

"I was worried he could get permanent damage to his vision — even to the point of getting corneal grafting in the future."

Mr Lydeamore said he spent three days in hospital with a saline drip in his eyes in an attempt to reduce the burning and damage.

Mr Lydeamore spent three days in hospital with a saline drip in his eyes. ( Supplied: Darren Lydeamore )

"It's not just the physical pain it's also the emotional … the concern here was 'what were we going to end up with'," he said.

"They [the doctors] were concerned about the amount of damage. They were saying things like 'significant and severe'."

His wife Meredith said she had to watch her husband suffering from the pain.

Mr Lydeamore was not able to take part in a recent half marathon because of his condition. ( Supplied: Darren Lydeamore )

"It was horrible, it was really, really bad," Ms Lydeamore said.

"We were trying to work out how this could have happened, for it to be so painful."

Mr Lydeamore said he was not able to take part in a recent half marathon he had been training for in Townsville because of his condition, which he said could have been prevented if the company had more prominently advertised its recall.

"I swim regularly — three times a week — and I've attended a few triathlons," he said.

"I've spoken to a few people that also swim that also didn't know about the recall.

"It would have made more sense for the recall notices to be displayed at the pools and where people purchased the product."

Zoggs apologises, defends recall approach

The ACCC says Zoggs Australia satisfied all of its recall notification requirements by advertising it on its website and Facebook page.

General manager of Zoggs Asia Pacific Rob Davies declined to be interviewed, but said in a statement Zoggs had corresponded with every consumer who had reported any issue with the Zoggs Fogbuster and lens cleaner.

"I am very sorry to hear about the discomfort/pain Darren and all Zoggs consumers have suffered to their eyes, with some leading to hospital treatment and, obviously, great personal distress," the statement said.

Darren Lydeamore said he has dealt with emotional pain as well physical. ( Supplied: Darren Lydeamore )

Mr Davies said when Zoggs became aware of a potential issue with a batch of Fogbuster the product was immediately quarantined in the Australian and New Zealand warehouse and no further products were sold while tests were carried out.

"We have been advised that, although painful and very distressing, with medical treatment any effects are temporary."

He said Zoggs then initiated an immediate product recall to retailers to who had received a product from one of the affected batches.

"We have issued a full recall of all Fogbuster solution sold in the period January to June 2018," he said.

"Zoggs will also be permanently discontinuing the product.

"Recall notices were then sent to all customers [retailers] who had purchased the faulty products asking them to be displayed in store and for the Fogbuster to be taken off sale and returned to Zoggs by freepost for a full refund," Mr Davies said.

Mr Davies said the Zoggs sales team then visited the retailers to ensure the recall requirements were in place.

He said 70 per cent of the affected product had been returned to Zoggs.

Darren Lydeamore suffered "horrible pain" and damage to his eyes. ( ABC News: Dom Vukovic )

Recall notice doesn't go far enough: doctor

Dr McLellan noted the recall notices on the ACCC and several other websites varied in their descriptions as to the level of injury that could be sustained.

The ABC found notices on government websites including the ACCC only specified "may cause irritation and burning sensation to the eyes".

Dr McLellan said Mr Lydeamore had a level of damage that he thought was "significant".

He said he would have preferred to see a far wider campaign to notify customers.