doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT: Cataract Surgery

Good reminder, Linn. I made an appointment to see my eye doc after some 8-9 years absence. Knowing that my Dad had glaucoma, and that it is highly inherited, I wanted to have my eye pressure checked. It was high in my right eye, 33 or so. I went back a month later and it was still high so he diagnosed glaucoma in that eye. I chose eye drops over annual laser surgery, and one drop each morning in that eye has kept it down at 21 or so, same as the other eye. (I hope I'm remembering the numbers correctly). Eye drops do not bother me in the least, and I am grateful for the great results they provide for me.

If your eye pressures haven't been checked, GET IT DONE!! Blindness is a poor option.

SRH

I just got back from the doc visit. He generally recommends monofocal lenses for cataract surgery because they always work. The multifocals are like a multi-tool, they do a lot but don't do any one thing as well well as a dedicated tool. He said that about 50% of the patients he sees who have had the multi-focals put in wish that they had gone with monos. The accomodative lenses are probably one generation short of being perfected. They require a perfect set of eye conditions to be viable in their current iteration, and are more subject to infection and complications than the other choices. They are articulated, with miniature internal radial hinges that are moved by the muscles in the eye, but they can "stick" in one position with some frequency. Problem is that they don't always stick where the patient wants them to be, so patient may have vision that is good at mid-range and poor both near and far.

He also said that he generally recommends that patients get mono lenses that correct for distant vision, and then wear glasses for close work. The exception is for patients who have been nearsighted and work with their hands, such as jewelers, finish carpenters, gunsmiths, engravers, surgeons, etc.

I happen to be an eye surgeon and also a collector of English guns 1850 - 1910, mostly damascus and especially from my home town of York i.e. Horsley. If I was having cataract surgery myself I would go for the best quality of vision and have monofocal lenses set at -0.25 in my dominant eye and -0.75 in the non dominant (whats known as mini-mono vision). There is an argument to use one of the newer Extended depth of focus lenses in the non dominant eye, as these are the least worst in terms of side effects of multifocals.
If you have astigmatism of more than 1.5 diopters then think about a toric monofocal lens there are v few issues with these if properly inserted.
Safe surgery is the most important issue - its not a trivial procedure and hope all goes well!