Eye Surgery

First topic message reminder :

As old as some of us seem to be from post of what happened back when, I am pretty sure some here have had Cataract Surgery. 
If you have, did you have a procedure for Astigmatism, at the same time and did it help with your Astigmatism?

I will be having a consultation (told 3 hours) with surgeon Tuesday. One of the options I will be given is to have a Laser Astigmatism treatment done at the same time.

Just curious if this has made a real difference for a red dot shooter?

Thanks for the comments. Since I have been wearing glasses since my college days where reading the board from the middle of the 350 seat lecture hall and then reading my on notes was not working out.

I anticipate some distance correction, if so I will get bifocals. I hate trifocals. I have been wearing transition polarized, 100% UV, anti glare lenses for several years. Having automatic sunglasses is nice but I will most likely also just get a distance only dark polarized pair for when I am out and about working my other hobby, wildlife photography. To see all of the data in the viewfinder one really needs to not be wearing glasses.

The latest update to the cataract surgery. Yesterday was my two week post op visit, it will be three more weeks before final visit and eyeglass prescriptions are determined. As to the quality of my distant vision, I am reading the bottom (20/15) line on the eye charts now. Two more weeks of nightly eye drops and the healing should be 100% by then and eyesight stabilized for a eye glass prescription.  

For me this whole process has been quite good. I hope these details help anyone that has a similar decision in their future.

REConley wrote:The latest update to the cataract surgery. Yesterday was my two week post op visit, it will be three more weeks before final visit and eyeglass prescriptions are determined. As to the quality of my distant vision, I am reading the bottom (20/15) line on the eye charts now. Two more weeks of nightly eye drops and the healing should be 100% by then and eyesight stabilized for a eye glass prescription.  

For me this whole process has been quite good. I hope these details help anyone that has a similar decision in their future.

Glad its going well!

For me I decided to get a pair made with progressive readers for just general wear, they have a nice wide intermediate section for computer use and they are poly so I use them at the reloading bench.

Good luck.

Good Morning:

I have had a cataract in my RT dominant eye, and now have one forming in my LF eye.

Between this and the floaters, it is a wonder I can see a gun box nevermind the sites.

So it looks like I will need surgery for my Cataracts, probably in the first quarter of 2021.

Should I assume that this is the "tagged" post that discusses Cataracts?

I will study this thread and others carefully.   But from what I gather, thus far,  I appear to need the lenses "set" to distance, and then people get glasses for the close in work.  Am I correct?

To deal with Astigmatism, is there a lense for this, or is that treated by laser? 

My other question is, will I need a separate pair of glasses for shooting a dot sight versus shooting irons?

Then to go into High-Power Rifle, additional correction factors needed for AR15 Irons, a Garand?

Curious as to your thoughts.

Regards,

Wally

Wally, from my experience this past August I selected distance only for both eyes. My clear sharp vision begins at about 2 meters and I have 20/15 overall distant vision. For shooting anything at distance, Red Dot or scope nothing other than safety glasses is needed. For iron sights I had a pair of bifocals made with the small bottom portion being reading distant (18 inches) and the top being for computer usage. I sit an arms length plus about 6 inches from my computer screen. Just so happens that is where my pistol front sight is also and should cover an AR or M1 front sight as well.  I see the front sights better now than 25 years ago.  My actual shooting glasses are prescription with no adjustment in the top and reading in the bottom. They are also anti glare and transition polarized where the lenses are clear when UV light is not hitting the lenses. So I can see at the bench to make adjustments and when shooting without a covered firing line I have sunglasses to deal with the glare. 

Astigmatism was addressed by having the laser treatment done at the same time. Red Dots are all nice round dots today except when I look through a pair of cheap safety glasses.

Wally
Wish I could have had IOL replacement 40 years ago. I was really near sighted all my life and my corneas were to thin for lasik correction. When the cataracts came along I jumped on full distance correction and astigmatism corrected with a toric lens. Like REConley, I have to have readers or prescription glasses up close. I have a progressive pair made for computer use but I would not recommend progressives for pistol, I'm getting a pair made like trifocals with up close in the bottom and intermediate above that with nothing in the top. Covid has screwed that up but its in the works. Got some cheap safety glasses with +.50 full lens for what little action type pistol shooting I do.  I'm not shooting High Power now for other health reasons. I used Jaggi frames for years for the rifle, I know they provide little protection but they were the only way I could compete. I did have some B. Jones lens set up for the AR service rifle that worked well but if it rained they had to go. One drop of water and you were out of business. I spent more on glasses and sights than some guys did on rifles. If I were to try HPR now after surgery I think I'd get my eye doc to fix me a lens for my old Jaggi frames so I could see the front sight and never load any hot ammo. Or have a pair made with the correction in the upper left for the dominate eye.
I have been pleased with the IOL replacement surgery and would not hesitate to do it again.
Good luck!

To clarify my post and agree with Blindshooter, no progressive lenses. Mine are the old bifocal design. The primary lens in the top 3/4 and a reading lens bottom 1/4.   They are cheaper (Three pair in total including driving sun glasses were about $1400.) and cause no shooting issues.

I keep hearing "expensive" mentioned.
All things are relative and good vision is priceless.
I have tinnitus and wear hearing aids ($5000) for hearing loss.
If a procedure was available to correct and or greatly improve these issues, I would be willing to dig real deep
into the cookie jar.
I hope everyone has a great result from their procedures.

G

Gary Collette wrote:I keep hearing "expensive" mentioned.
All things are relative and good vision is priceless.
I have tinnitus and wear hearing aids ($5000) for hearing loss.
If a procedure was available to correct and or greatly improve these issues, I would be willing to dig real deep
into the cookie jar.
I hope everyone has a great result from their procedures.

G

I dropped about 8k for the laser procedure and the specialist doc because the shape of my eyes had a enhanced risk of complications using the knife method. plus the toric lens were more than the insurance would pay for.
I'd do it again.

$8K for the laser procedure! 

I paid $1600 per eye for the laser but only for astigmatism and omitting the need to freehand with a scalpel. 

Maybe I did get it done cheap. 

REConley wrote:$8K for the laser procedure! 

I paid $1600 per eye for the laser but only for astigmatism and omitting the need to freehand with a scalpel. 

Maybe I did get it done cheap. 

Crappy insurance. I'd still do it again.
And with my thin corneas they didn't want to use the laser to correct astigmatism therefor the toric lens' that the insurance only paid what the standard lens cost would be.

One of my friend had cataract surgery and as discussed with him, He said Many people choose to have astigmatism corrected during cataract surgery using techniques like toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) or laser-assisted astigmatism correction. Toric IOLs are designed to correct astigmatism by compensating for the uneven curvature of the cornea. During cataract surgery, laser treatment can be used to precisely correct the corneal shape, enhancing the outcome for astigmatism. He had his cataract surgery done by EyeMantra- one of the eye hospitals in India. 

So, Overall, combining cataract surgery with astigmatism correction can make a notable difference in vision quality and daily activities. It’s great that you’re exploring all your options and discussing them with your surgeon.

I had it done a couple years ago. I'd been around -6.5 since I was a preteen, but in the last few years it was getting worse so fast that I couldn't keep a prescription working for more than a couple months.

I went with distance, it's clear and sharp from 4 or 5 feet to quite a few hundred yards- amazing difference. I wear readers for closer up, and I got several pairs of cheap ballistic bifocal readers from Amazon to use for the first six months, while the eyes settled in. Then I got prescription bifocal readers, and prescription ballistic bifocals with side shields for shooting.

It seemed odd at first, because the color of the world seemed colder. That's because the yellow haze was removed from my eyes, so things seemed more blue.

Talking with my doctor, his opinion is that the multifocal implants are jacks of all trades, masters of none- you get focus at all distances, but nothing as crisp and sharp as with monofocal.

I also had the astigmatism treated at the same time. Not 100% fixed, but way better than it was before.

Iron sights are still difficult, because I'm either able to focus on the front sight with the reader lens, or on the target with the clear part of the lens. Not an issue when I use dots or scopes.

I had cataract surgery on my right eye. The eye doctor understood I was a shooter so she prescribed tri-focals for me with the center lens part perfectly focused on my front sight. I was unsuccessful trying to get a second set from the VA for free with some speciall features. I ended up paying for the second set and they were well worth the money spent.
  The top set are safety glasses with the ability to change depending on light. Both lenses are corrected for reading, shooting (dash board) and distance. This is the pair I wear every day.
  The bottom set are my own creation for shooting. They work with both dots and steel sights. They are tinted safety glasses and both lens are bifocals. The left lens has the main section for distance and the small lens part is for reading. The right lens is set up with the main section focused on the front sight and the  little section is also a reading lens. The benefits for shooting are thus. Easy to see distant and very close objects clearly with both eyes (mind auto adjusts focus) and ability to focus on dot or sights with the right eye. I get so used to them during a match that I've forgotten to switch after a match. If you use a diopler it will work anywhere on the upper portion of the right lens. You don't have to search for the sweet spot.

Len, I have a set very similar to your top pair. Had my doc measure for front sight distance and whatever the reading power in the bottom.

They work great for sitting at a computer as well as shooting. I wanted the "executive" trifocal but my preferred optical shop couldn't do them any longer. 

Hope everyone has a great day!