Questions and Andwers

Below you will find some actual questions submitted by people seeking information about eye problems and conditions.

Dear Dr. Jankowski

I have heard that after cataract surgery, the patient has to stop all
contact or impact sports such as football, snow skiing, and water
skiing. Will I need to reduce my more extreme sports activities if I
get a Phakic Intraocular Lens (PIOL) for my severe myopia combined
with LASIK for astigmatism?

Thank you very much

Dear ,
Thank you for your question. You must remember that patients with high
or severe myopia are already at-risk for a retinal detachment during
contact or high impact activities. Although the vision changes as the
result of refractive surgery, anatomically, the patient still has a
myopic eye. For this reason, very high impact activities should be
limited. When you add the PIOL, until they are proven over time,
reasonable caution should be the rule. Recreational snow or water
skiing, in my opinion , would be OK. Full contact football, boxing, etc.
would place you at higher risk. Common sense need to prevail.
I hope that his answers your question.

Sincerely,

Stephan Jankowski, O.D.

Dear Dr. Jankowski

This question has long confused me -- how do I determine which eye is my dominate eye? I've received many answers, but none seemed to make sense. In seeking a better explanation, I found your website. Can you finally end my long-standing confusion?
Thanks,

Dear ,
Thanks for your question. There is a very easy test to determine which
is your dominant eye. Cut a small hole in a piece of paper....about 1/2
inch in diameter. Hold the paper at arms length. With both eye open
sight an object across the room through the hole. While sighting the
object, shut one eye. If the object disappears, that is your
non-dominant eye. If you are still able to see the object, that is your
dominant eye. Generally, if you are right hand dominant, you will be
right eye dominant...but this is not always the case.

I hope that this answers your question.

Stephan Jankowski, O.D.

Dr. Jankowski,

I heard that in refractive surgery, the vision afterwards can be better than
the refraction would otherwise indicate. Is this true?
Thanks for your time

Dear ,
You pose a very practical question. Often times, the measured visual
acuity can be better than what the resulting refractive error
indicates. Patients who have refractive surgery are generally very
motivated and want to do well. I think much of this is the result of that.
Expectations are almost just as important in refractive surgery as the
actual results of the procedure. Patients are motivated to get rid of
their glasses or contact lenses for most tasks.
If the best corrected visual acuity with glasses or contact lenses is
20/30, for example, you can not except better visual acuity than that
after having a refractive surgery procedure, although sometimes you can
be surprised.
Thanks for the questiion. I hope that I answered it to your satisfaction.

Stephan Jankowski, O.D.