PS: in the 70s I worked for AT&T and we could transfer to any ware in the USA , unfortunately for me the telephone company in Australia was run by the postal system. I should have found another way. My hunting fishing Buddy got a transfer to Vermont. They gave Him a truck, snow shoes and a snowmobile so he could repair open wire. It was a dream come true for him.
PS: off topic but ; one of the first things my buddy did was buy a
300 Win. Mag. He married a nurse and her father turned over his water well digging company to him. Bought a Beautiful piece of land and build a nice house. Dreams do come true.
My ophthalmologist has three types of lenses available:
1a. Traditional single distance, far or near. You can pick near focus and need driving glasses or pick far focus and need reading glasses. These do not correct for astigmatism. These are the only ones that health insurance or Medicare will completely pay for.
1b. Some folks select one far lens and one near lens; their brains eventually adjust to this so you can see far and near, and the costs are fully covered. This is similar to folks who get different contacts, one for far and one for near.
2. The next level up is still single distance (far or near) as above, but can correct astigmatism at least partially. You have to pay out of pocket for this upgrade.
3. The top level lens is triple distance focus and can correct for astigmatism. This is also the most costly. Note that like #2, it may not completely correct astigmatism, but it can lessen it.
Be warned that not everyone can get the upgraded lenses. Details of eye shape and other aspects make them not suitable. In my case, one eye could only have the single distance basic lens. However, my dominant eye qualified for the triple distance lens, so I popped the bucks for that one. It greatly improved my astigmatism but did not eliminate it completely.
Next warning: if you are considering the higher level lenses, be sure your doctor does a complete screening. I have a friend who got the three level lenses and after surgery could no longer see well enough to drive at night. It turned out his eyes were not right for them, but the doctor had neglected to performed one of the tests he should have had. They are looking at more surgery to change lenses again for him.
Finally, now that I have my new spectacles to go with my new lenses, I am ecstatic about the improvement in my vision. I can watch movies and drive without glasses for the first time in 60 years!
In my 30 ish years of doing medicine my last 10 ish were in Retina.
With that being said if you live long enough you will get cataracts, some sooner some later but it will happen. Most all of us over 45 or so develop presbyopia which is the hardening of the natural lens which makes it hard to focus up close or if you prefer “your arms are getting shorter”, hence readers.
Floaters are naturally occurring, some get them sooner others later, I’ve had mine since I was 16. Mostly they are just annoying but your brain turns them “off” unless you remember them then “poof” they are back. The traumatic ones are the ones you need to watch out for and are generally caused by damage to the eye resulting in blood in the vitreous (the jelly inside your eye). In minor cases the blood can be reabsorbed but often times you need a vitrectomy to get it out as well as repair the damage as in a detached retina, retinal tear or similar.
Vitrectomy is when they literally suck the inside of your eye out and replace it with a gas (oil if there is a lot of damage) when they do that it will form a cataract almost all of the time and generally very quickly following the vitrectomy. That’s the surgically induced cataract.
When I left eyeballs about 5 years ago they were making serious strides in multi focal implants sometimes called “Toric” lenses but there were significant restrictions. Folks who has LASIK or PRK etc were not eligible which was very frustrating for them after years of no glasses they were back in readers. I’ve not kept up with the science but I’d be willing to bet that they have fixed that little bump in the road by now.
If you are considering cataract surgery start saving your pennies now as insurance and MEDICARE will only cover “standard” or single focal lenses. To get the good stuff you will need a couple of grand.
Insider tip: NEVER get your cataracts done by someone who also sells glasses. Go to a dedicated surgical center where that is all they do. Optometry is a totally different science that ophthalmology if you do both, your probably not very good at either.
I agree with your advice about chosing the proper surgical center…but I’m totally surprised about getting cataract sooner or later.
I’ve checked my Family’s medical history (about 30 people) and the only person who had diagnosed cataract was my mom. One eye only… So the percentage is very low.
Mattm, you may (or even probably) have what’s called “second sight.” I’m going through it now. As a cataract forms over the years, they can change the shape of the lens in your eye in a way that improves your sight.
Something to keep an eye on, no pun intended. My wife mentioned something about that. No mention of any issues from my optometrists which was good, work requirement up til retirement 18 months ago, and the improvement was like a step a year for 3 or 4 years. I found getting into inspection 40 years back improved my vision, and getting into shooting did as well, which got verified by my work exams…
If one works outside or as a child/adult spent/spends a lot of time outside, it will occur. UV light is very bad for one’s eyes (the cause of cataracts). UV-blocking sunglasses will mitigate that, but who over 50 had those sunglasses? I have mild cataracts, but I only spent my youth on the bay (being on the water is very bad, as it also reflects UV). My father died before his cataracts were blinding. He died from mesotheliomic cancer caused by exposure to asbestos while he was in the military.
I still believe in healthy life style… so i’m hoping to take my last breath without cataract.
Let’s come back to this threat in next 5… 10… 20… 30… maybe even 35 years…
@Jerzees cataracts are one of those age development things, kind of like cancer. Some folks (family lines) are more predisposed to it than others and the reverse is also possible. I’m sure somebody with a lot more time on their hands and government funding than me has done the research on it. @Dave17 also brings up an excellent point, our environmental factors affect a great many things. I for one am hoping they come up with a way to have our “windows washed” like they can do with implants that get cloudy now.
@Buzz 2nd sight is a neat occurrence when it happens in the correct direction other than that it’s called “my eyes went bad”. I do know from personal experience that you can change eye dominance but you have to continue to work on it or it will revert.
I don’t know if I understood you correctly…but you posted everybody get the cataract sooner or later.
I still don’t believe in it.
Now you said, it’s kind of like cancer…so everyone is going to have cancer?
I still don’t buy this.
There are lot of things that will happen to our bodies…we get older every day… but diseases and imperfections are not one of them.
Perhaps there’s a chance…but it’s still far away from getting it sooner or later…
I don’t wish to belabor this dead horse. What I said was “if you live long enough you will get cataracts, some sooner some later”. I could have just as easily said “If you live long enough, you will die.” I’m glad your family is not predisposed to them yet somehow saddened that they haven’t lived long enough to get them.
I was near sighted to the point I thought trees looked like green and brown blobs to everybody else until I had to get glasses to get my driving learner permit at 15.
I went to get my driver license renewed in person a few years ago with the dream I could get “Corrective Lenses” restriction removed. The lady said she could see I wasn’t wearing contacts, so she removed the restriction
OK. I got this. I just interpreted your words differently. So cataract is just normal effect of the eyes being older and older and eventually will occur, but we have to be old enough for it.
