Post Cataract Surgery: Seeing the sights!

[W.E.G.]

Try "computer glasses."

0.25 magnification for rifle sights.
0.50 for pistol sights

Works for me.

http://www.computerglassesdirect.com/ordernow.html

(I wear 1.50 "reading" glasses for reading the newspaper on the dining room table.)

 

[Phlier]

Try peep sights on your rifles. That is what my eyes like for iron sights on long guns.

Yes, I love shooting my Ruger Mini-14! The peep sight is wonderful. I can shoot it wearing nothing more than safety glasses, and see perfectly through the peep.

I would really like to be able to find a lens pattern that can be used for normal daily wear as well as shooting, but the more I think about this, the more I'm convinced it's going to take a shooting specific lens pattern, one that wouldn't work for normal daily wear.

That's ok, except that it doesn't solve the CCW problem. Not being able to see the front sight in a self defense situation is not a good thing. I guess it's time to put lasers on my CCW guns.

I'm very pleasantly surprised by the responses I've gotten to this thread. Thank you all *very* much!

 

[Phlier]

Try "computer glasses."

0.25 magnification for rifle sights.
0.50 for pistol sights

Works for me.

http://www.computerglassesdirect.com/ordernow.html

(I wear 1.50 "reading" glasses for reading the newspaper on the dining room table.)

Thank you! I'm going to order a pair of those right now to try out. Now I just need to get some over-spectacle safety glasses to pair them up with. I'm at +2.5 for reading the newspaper.

Prior to developing cataracts, my eye doc was very impressed that I still had so much accommodation in my 40's. I could still read the newspaper just fine without using reading glasses.

For those unfamiliar with "accommodation"... Accommodation is the ability of your eye's lens to change shape. This allows you to change the focus of your eyes according to the distance you are currently looking at. As you age, the lens in your eye starts to harden, resisting the eye muscle's attempt to change it's shape. This means that your ability to focus on objects that are close deteriorates. It happens to everyone as we age, but of course it's an individual thing; some people need reading glasses in their 30's, while some don't require them until they're in their 60's. But everyone will need reading glasses eventually. Well, almost everyone. Those people who are near sighted (requiring corrective lenses to see things at a distance) can simply remove their correcting lenses and see things that are up close just fine. But people with normal 20/20 vision, as well as those that are naturally far sighted, will all end up needing assistance to see up close at some point in their lives.

Since cataract surgery replaces the eye's natural lens with a rigid artificial lens, the muscles that are responsible for changing the lens shape are useless; the lens shape doesn't change, and you are stuck at being focused on one set distance for the rest of your life.

 

[entropy]

Bet you were a hyperope.

 

[Phlier]

Bet you were a hyperope.

Actually, an emmetrope prior to the cataract surgery. That's probably why making the transition has been so hard.

 

[Steve C]

I had cataract surgery a little over 2 years ago. I selected distance vision for both eyes as I once tried reading in one eye and distance in the other with contacts and could never adjust to it.

I've been lucky on my surgery results and have no trouble seeing handgun sights at arms length or anything at distance. I do need some help reading and wear bifocals most of the time with reading prescription on the lower part with an almost no prescription on the upper.

 

[Jim Watson]

I am basically myopic, nearsighted; and have worn distance vision glasses since about age 8. Natural accommodation let me see well at all distances with them for a long time but eventually bifocals - actually progressives, I have never worn segmented bifocals - became necessary. I wear monovision shooting glasses.

Last year's eye exam showed a slight pre cataract haze. I am sure that if nothing strikes me down sooner, that I will eventually be a candidate for the procedure.

Which brings up an interesting question. What do I correct for?
I am ok with monovision for a shooting match, but would not care for it all the time.
Most folks go with distance implants and wear reading glasses, maybe computer, maybe sight radius shooting glasses.
I guess I could go with near implants and wear distance Rx, taking me back to my youth.
Or how about intermediate implants so I could see the gunsights any time? Glasses outside that bracket. Would I be comfortable that way in the Old Folks Home after my shooting career?
Maybe I can get a setup like Steve's: "have no trouble seeing handgun sights at arms length or anything at distance."

I can cross my fingers and hope they get all the bugs out of varifocal and mutifocal implants by the time I need them.

 

[entropy]

Jim- You might get lucky there; the advances in implant types recently is amazing. You've got some time to think about it.

Phlier- Yup, that would make sense. The reason I thought hyperope is they usually go the longest before needing reading addition. I made it to 43 before needing it, which with my high myopia (-6.00D) is pretty good.

 

[Phlier]

I had cataract surgery a little over 2 years ago. I selected distance vision for both eyes as I once tried reading in one eye and distance in the other with contacts and could never adjust to it.

I've been lucky on my surgery results and have no trouble seeing handgun sights at arms length or anything at distance. I do need some help reading and wear bifocals most of the time with reading prescription on the lower part with an almost no prescription on the upper.

Do you have really long arms?

I've read several instances now of people having fairly decent intermediate/close vision after cataract surgery even though they selected far vision for their implants. It seems that there is fairly wide variation in how well people can see intermediate/close after cataract surgery with distant implants. Some people have surprisingly good intermediate/near vision, while others (like myself) are darn near blind close up.

I must say that I am very envious. Iron sights on a handgun are nothing but a complete blur to me without at least +2.5 diopters of correction.

 

[Jim Watson]

There is a lot of variability in the process. A friend came out with non-matching eyes this year. Either the ophthalmologist miscalculated, misinstalled, or decided he knew better and fixed my guy up with monovision when told not to. I don't know which, but I am not going to that clinic.

 

[cfullgraf]

Just a single data point. My implants are set for distance and have corrected my vision to 20/20 to 20/25.

I need strong correction for reading, I have mostly +2.5 readers for most tasks.

I assume that my need for strong readers was due to needing strong correction for near sightedness before. But, maybe not.

Something to keep in mind when doing research.

An aside, I was awake for one of my eyes and it was certainly strange watching things from the inside. Mostly shadows moving around with a gentle tug now and then.

 

[4evernbljns]

Yes, I love shooting my Ruger Mini-14! The peep sight is wonderful. I can shoot it wearing nothing more than safety glasses, and see perfectly through the peep.

I would really like to be able to find a lens pattern that can be used for normal daily wear as well as shooting, but the more I think about this, the more I'm convinced it's going to take a shooting specific lens pattern, one that wouldn't work for normal daily wear.

That's ok, except that it doesn't solve the CCW problem. Not being able to see the front sight in a self defense situation is not a good thing. I guess it's time to put lasers on my CCW guns.

I'm very pleasantly surprised by the responses I've gotten to this thread. Thank you all *very* much!

research the stats relating to self defense shootings. Not to be demeaning but unless you have "seen the elephant" and are extremely cool and capable in that high stress situation,you likely will only remember to shoot center mass. Focus on front sights,proper trigger control,shoot & move,etc. all these things vanish. Hell,I found continuing to breath was a forced response.

 

[Phlier]

There is a lot of variability in the process. A friend came out with non-matching eyes this year. Either the ophthalmologist miscalculated, misinstalled, or decided he knew better and fixed my guy up with monovision when told not to. I don't know which, but I am not going to that clinic.

Yeah, that sounds like the surgeon installed a distance implant, and a near implant (monovision).

I did a ton of research before I selected a surgeon and implant itself. I paid a lot of extra money to get premium lens implants. They are among the best fixed focal point lenses on the market. It's amazing how many choices there are for fixed focus implants.

One doctor I went to told me to hold off until next year... He took part in a study of pre-market lenses that are quite amazing. They install the lenses using best-guess for power, then post op, they do another refraction and determine what adjustment needs to be made to the implants. They then hit the implant with a YAG laser, and that will change the correction of the implant. They can do this several times, until the correction is absolutely perfect. Once that point is reached, they hit the implant with a higher powered laser pulse to lock it in to that correction. Pretty amazing.

Unfortunately, my job required that I get the cataracts done mucho pronto, so waiting for the pre-trial lenses to become FDA approved wasn't an option.

 

[entropy]

Just a single data point. My implants are set for distance and have corrected my vision to 20/20 to 20/25.

I need strong correction for reading, I have mostly +2.5 readers for most tasks.

I assume that my need for strong readers was due to needing strong correction for near sightedness before. But, maybe not.

Something to keep in mind when doing research.

An aside, I was awake for one of my eyes and it was certainly strange watching things from the inside. Mostly shadows moving around with a gentle tug now and then.

Your assumption is correct. Implants won't correct axial defects; that is the eye is either too long (myopia) or too short (hyperopia) to focus on the retina directly. They won't correct astigmatism either, though often the insertion process does correct or reduce it.

I am a big baby when it comes to operations. I needed a general for my vasectomy. There's no way I could sit through an implant awake.

 

[8ring]

I had cataract surgery on my left eye in early June and my right eye two weeks later. My opthomologist is also an avid shooter who did my Lasix surgery 12 years ago.

We decided to do mono-vision again. The surgeries were completely successful. Using my left eye, I can see print two sizes smaller than newsprint. With my right eye I can see the smaller letters on street signs a block away.

However, the front sight on handguns is not sharply in focus with either eye. So I got some progressive bifocals with the "front sight in sharp focus" area set in the middle of the lens. I must remember to keep my chin up while firing to keep the front sight sharp and then lower my chin a bit while looking down range to acquire new targets.

I'll use this setup at an indoor match tomorrow night.

 

[Capt. Ct.]

I just got new progressive glasses after having my second eye done. I now see better than ever as long as I have the glasses that is. I tip my head back a little so the sights are visible through the bottom of the lens and the target is fine through the upper part. No problem.

 

[ThomasT]

I am going to have cataract surgery on the right eye Oct. 18th and the left eye Nov. 7th. I signed up for some expensive lenses that should have it where at the most I will need to wear reading glasses. Thats an extra $6000 over what the insurance will pay.

I can't wait to get it done. I was supposed have this done march 3rd but the insurance wouldn't pay the hospital because it was out of network. So that was a setback.

I think I am getting a lense called Astigmatic Managment. But I could be wrong. I knew the right eye needed this done but had no idea they were going to do both eyes. Oh well, what the hey. Right?

 

[jimherb]

I think I lost mine in a move, but I had shooting glasses that were "bi-focal"
but one lens was the long one and the other a short distance one. Easier for me than the split lens.

 

[mikemyers]

I assume you mean $3,000 additional for each of the two lenses?

Can you find out specifically what these lenses do for you, beyond what the standard lenses do? What is "Astigmatic Management"?

Also, if these lenses are for distance, and you need glasses for reading, I suspect you'll also need lenses for distances in between, such as front sight vision.

 

[ThomasT]

As far as I can tell the lenses are called "Lifestyle" lenses and are supposed to work far and near. All except up close. It also includes Lasik if needed within the first two years. The price is for the lens and the doctor and clinic over what the insurance pays. Plus astimatism correction that I have in both eyes, the left the most. So I am not sure if this is a deal or not. But if you have any insight good or bad please let me hear it.

 

[swede4198]

I had my lenses replaced five years ago by an ex-Air Force surgeon. When I told him I shoot competitively suggested a set of far sighted lenses. I was always near sighted so it has been great not having to wear glasses all the time. I do use reading glasses for small print.

Hand gun sights are fairly easy to see but I find tritium fiber optic sights are the easiest to see. High contrast sights are much better to see than plain black iron sights I have on old revolvers. I do have trouble with AR-15 sights as the rear sight is too close for me. Red dots are my friend but the best BUIS I have found have a diamond aperture vs the normal round aperture.

 

[mikemyers]

You might find this useful:
http://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/cataracts-iol-implants

 

[ThomasT]

Thanks for the link. I watched the videos. The accomodating lens is what I am getting. I think. Those should get me much better vision than I have now.

And the extra $6000+ cost. Oh well, its just money. Right?

 

[mikemyers]

If you have cataracts removed, the new lenses will be clear, and will no longer be blocking your vision.

Something you need to decide, is at what distance do you want everything to be clear, with no need for glasses. Most people select distance, and use glasses as needed for viewing things that are closer.

Before you even think about what kind of lenses you want, your ophthalmologist should give you a thorough eye exam, and tell you what kind of corrections are needed for each eye. Once you have that, you can discuss the benefits of each type of lens with him.


Just curious - do you know what the extra $6,000 is for? Specifically what will it do, over and beyond what the typical lenses do?


(There is a similar discussion going on here:
http://www.bullseyeforum.net/t5774-any-optomerists-on-board
You might want to follow that as well as this discussion.)


I forget which discussion I found the following in, but it has a lot of potential. I asked my friends at Aravind Eye Hospital about it, and they're aware of it, but it's not being done there yet:

"One doctor I went to told me to hold off until next year... He took part in a study of pre-market lenses that are quite amazing. They install the lenses using best-guess for power, then post op, they do another refraction and determine what adjustment needs to be made to the implants. They then hit the implant with a YAG laser, and that will change the correction of the implant. They can do this several times, until the correction is absolutely perfect. Once that point is reached, they hit the implant with a higher powered laser pulse to lock it in to that correction. Pretty amazing.”​

When I get some free time, I want to find out more about it. I get my cataracts corrected this coming October in India. I doubt this technology will be available that soon.


Edit - added later - this might be the new lenses that are adjusted after the operation:
http://www.healio.com/ophthalmology...-adjustable-lens-a-new-generation-in-implants

 

[ThomasT]

Mike I have already had the eye exams and the discussion with the doc. I can't wait a year. I need this done ASAP. The right eye is really bugging me and I want it fixed. Plus I never know when my wife may get fed up with her job and quit. And then I would really be jacked up. But thanks for your suggestions.

I will keep everyone posted about the results. I started a thread on this over at rimfirecentral.com and for some reason the thread is gone. There are a lot of older shooters over there and a lot of them have had cataract surgery and posted a lot of positive results. I just wish the dang thread hadn't vanished.