Cave Diving and Cataractd surgery

[cavekrazi]

Just had both eyes done this week with cataract removal and lens implants. Anyone with experience who can give me some guidelines as to how long to wait for deep diving (100+) and other considerations caving. I was gonna wait a month. Got to get a new mask...without vision correction for a change. Yeah baby! Typing on the computer without glasses 2 days after second eye. Amazing. I can't wait to see the line on the ceiling back near the Banana room without turning upside down!

[Terry D]

Not that I have any specific information but I wouldn't trust anyone except the Physicians at DAN. They are the "go to" people.

Non-emergency medical information line
+1-919-684-2948
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Mon-Fri 8:30am to 5:00pm EST.

[michael-fisch]

Why not ask the doctor who did it. I was doing decodives 6 weeks later. The written directions said avoid contact sports (boxing) for 4 weeks after surgery.

Michael

[Diverlee]

I was told to wait 6 weeks


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[sandy]

From the DAN website. I had cataract surgery about 4 years ago. Seems like I was told to wait 2 to 4 weeks. Scheduled for pre-op on Monday for the other eye now. I will be asking my doctor about the wait.

"My ophthalmologist has scheduled me for cataract surgery next week. The surgery will include lens implants. I have scheduled a dive vacation three months from now and am curious to know if it is OK to dive after lens implant surgery. My ophthalmologist doesn't think it will be a problem, but he admits he is not trained in dive medicine.

Intraocular lens implantation is a commonly performed surgical procedure for cataracts and refractive surgery. It generally involves replacing the natural crystalline lens of your eye with a flexible plastic lens; the procedure is usually done on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. It involves the placement of the lens through a small incision on the surface of the eye; the incision is then sealed without a suture. Patients generally achieve full recovery within two to three weeks, but they should consult their physicians before participating in any strenuous physical exercise and activities that may increase blood pressure. Complications are rare but can involve infection, inflammation, loosening of the lens and visual disturbances (e.g., nighttime halos).

Scuba diving after lens implant surgery should not be a problem provided you allow enough time for the incision to heal. The healthy eye is filled with a non-compressible fluid (aqueous and vitreous humors), so the changing pressures experienced during a dive are evenly distributed and pose no particular threat.

There have been no controlled studies that specifically address the wait time required before returning to diving after such a procedure, so your best course of action is to play it safe. Wait a minimum of two months and then consult your treating physician to review your recovery before returning to diving.
John U. Lee, MSDT, CHT
DAN medical information specialist"

[michael-fisch]

BTW, spend the extra money and have focusable IOLs implanted. I had Crystalens AOLs implanted 9 years ago and it was the best decision I ever made.

Michael

[tursiops]

BTW, spend the extra money and have focusable IOLs implanted. I had Crystalens AOLs implanted 9 years ago and it was the best decision I ever made.

Michael

Ditto.

[allen]

My ophthalmologist told me to wait 2 months. I had no trouble whatsoever on my return to diving. My ophthalmologist recommended single focus lenses; she said that the variable focus lenses create halos at night. This means that I need reading glasses, but I don't need corrective lenses for diving or hiking.

[michael-fisch]

I guess your opthalmologist is one of the 90+% that don't either have the permission or the training to implant B&L Crystalens IOLs. He or she should have been honest and told you that he or she cannot do it.

The Halo is noticable with the 1st 4 weeks while driving at night. In my case I stopped noticing it at around 6 weeks and it was definatly gone at 6 months never to return.
Always listen to a doctor's advise, then try to understand why you got it and finally make your own decisions.

At 16 I had my appendix taken out and was back in school on Monday, with instructions to avoid walking up stairs for 6 weeks. That meant I couldn't attend classes for several hours a day. I enjoyed rockclimbing and there was a nice small cliff less than a half mile from the school so I went rockclimbing (it wasn't walking stairs so I wasn't doing anything my doctor strictly prohibited). The next day I was in pain and I quickly figured out that my doctor wasn't an idiot.

Michael

[Germie]

Some advice 2 weeks, others 2 months. If you cannot wait it is 2 weeks. Otherwise something between 2 weeks and 2 months. A friend dove after 3 weeks again, no problems.