My brother is 65 and has reached the point of needing cataract
surgery.  He is told he has severe astigmatism in his right eye, and
moderate astigmatism in the left.  I don't know what this means in
terms of diopters - he doesn't have his prescription.

His understanding from talking to his doctor, is his left eye is
dominant at distance, and his right eye dominant close up.  He
therefore proposed correcting the left eye for distance and the
right for close-up, with the hope that he would see well enough at
all distances not to need glasses at all.  I know that some people
(my own ophthamologist is one of them) fit contacts this way, but I
wonder what percentage of people are unable to adjust to this.  It
seems if you can't adjust, then you have to wear bifocals all the
time, and that having implanted lenses done this way is somewhat
risky.

In addition, the doctor is proposing to use a toric lens in the
right eye, and to do a LRI procedure, whatever that is, in the left
where the astigmatism is less severe.  Does that make sense?  Would
using toric in both be better?

I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Jane says...

 > From what I've read, the majority of people who try
 > monovision can adapt to it, but a minority cannot.  When
 > someone has never attempted monovision before, modified
 > monovision (AKA blended vision) might be a better bet.

Thanks very much for the reply.

It occurs to me that one should be able to test how he might
like monovision by investing in a cheap pair of
single-vision glasses, and wearing them for a few weeks before
the surgery.  The dominant eye would be corrected to
distance, and the other eye to either near or intermediate.
Wouldn't this give you the same effect as post-surgery
monovision would?  Well, except for the cataract of course,
but at least you would have an idea whether monovision makes
you want to throw up.  What do you think?  Worth doing?

From what I've read, the majority of people who try
monovision can adapt to it, but a minority cannot. When
someone has never attempted monovision before, modified
monovision (AKA blended vision) might be a better bet.

Dear George,

Yes, it would be a good idea to test mono-vision -- before
the final operation.

Mono-vision works better with contacts.

But does your brother wish to do it?

Enjoy,

On May 3, 7:32 pm, George <gh424NO824S...@cox.net> wrote:



Jane says...

 > From what I've read, the majority of people who try
 > monovision can adapt to it, but a minority cannot.  When
 > someone has never attempted monovision before, modified
 > monovision (AKA blended vision) might be a better bet.

Thanks very much for the reply.

It occurs to me that one should be able to test how he might
like monovision by investing in a cheap pair of
single-vision glasses, and wearing them for a few weeks before
the surgery.  The dominant eye would be corrected to
distance, and the other eye to either near or intermediate.
Wouldn't this give you the same effect as post-surgery
monovision would?  Well, except for the cataract of course,
but at least you would have an idea whether monovision makes
you want to throw up.  What do you think?  Worth doing?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Jane says...

From what I've read, the majority of people who try
monovision can adapt to it, but a minority cannot. When
someone has never attempted monovision before, modified
monovision (AKA blended vision) might be a better bet.

Thanks very much for the reply.

It occurs to me that one should be able to test how he might
like monovision by investing in a cheap pair of
single-vision glasses, and wearing them for a few weeks before
the surgery. The dominant eye would be corrected to
distance, and the other eye to either near or intermediate.
Wouldn't this give you the same effect as post-surgery
monovision would? Well, except for the cataract of course,
but at least you would have an idea whether monovision makes
you want to throw up. What do you think? Worth doing?