Monovision and sports

[ToniC]

Hi,

I'm 40 years old(almost) and I am between cataracts surgeries.My dominant eye is corrected for distance and now I need to decide what to do with the non-dominant eye. My doctor has suggested I consider monovision.

I've worn distance glasses all my life so the idea of reading glasses isn't that daunting, until I think about trying to read my watch without reading glasses, working (as I do) at a computer, or the numerous up close things one does in a day.

However, I am fairly active and I wonder will monovision reduce my depth perception and vision such that it has a negative impact when I participate in sports.

Any opinions?
Thanks
Toni C

[chip anderson]

Son you ain't gonna have no depth preception with as much difference as pseudophakic patients have between near and distance. Now this does not mean it won't work, possibly in contacts, it won't work at all in glasses.


Have you concidered bifocal contacts, or two distance lenses for sports and a near for work?

Chip

[finklstiltskin]

BecauseI'm with Chip. Your depth perception will be jacked-up BAD in monovision contacts. My professional opinion is that this is a very bad idea. I also concur with Chip that you might want to try distance-only for sports (unless the game is chess or foosball :D) and near-only or monovision for work.

Fink

[QDO1]

Yes going to monovision will effect depth perception. Will that effect your sport - probrably. What will effect it more is the change in your "in focus" visual field. That means that if your reading lens is in the left eye, the outer left periphery vision will have poor vision

Depth perception is not only a binocular thing though. Depending on how close something is we percieve depth by assessing haze, relative sizes, resoloution, colour definition and shadows - for example

You might need several methods of correction to get you through the day- one for everyday, one for work, and another for sport. If you are serious about your sport, find an Optician that specialises in sports vision

In my practice I could demonstrate most options to you (at least the blunt mechanics of them). Ask your Optician to demonstrate the options to you

[Happylady]

What about a multifocal implant?

[ToniC]

My opthamologist was not overly impressed with the multifocal implants. When I first visited him re the cataracts in the early spring, he did suggest I think about them (they were newly approved in Canada), but since then he has changed his mind.

He seems rather keen on monovision - he neither wears distance nor reading glasses so I get the impression that he likes to reduce people's dependance on glasses. And unfortunately since it is cataract surgery, doing a trial period with contacts won't help me see what it is like to have monovision.

I'm just concerned that, as with many compromises, monovision won't be the best of both worlds.

Thanks,
Toni C

[Robert Martellaro]

Toni,

If it's too late to do a trial run with contacts then skip the monovision. Ask the doctor about achieving a post IOL Rx sphere equivalent power of about -.75.

Hope this helps

[drk]

AAARRRGGGGHHHH!

All ophthalmologists LOVE, LOVE, LOVE monovision, but they always end up in optometry offices later when they're not happy!

Don't do monvision IOLs. It's foolishness. I can see trying it in LASIK (even though I'm still not a fan) since it's easily reversible. But no one is going to go in and explant that IOL if you don't like monovision. They are going to make you wear an awful, unbalanced pair of glasses, or make you totally dependent on a contact lens for the rest of your life, or tell you that you need LASIK to counteract the monovision.

Just say "No, thank you".

Take it from a very experienced contact lens fitter: monovision may work for some things, but it's not a full-time solution. If it were so red-hot, everyone would be doing it. Do you want a permanent monovision?

Since you've already gone full distance in the dominant eye, go full distance in the other. If you must, must, have monovision, do a very, very little, like Robert M. suggested.

(In fact, my ideal post-op Rx would've been -0.75 DS OU, with distance and near specs needed. Have you noticed how happy these low myopes are as they get older?)