- This topic has 8 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I recently had eye surgery (cataract) and am about to return to KM class. Has anyone out there had experiences with contact drills after eye surgery? What type of eye protection, if any, do individuals use in class?
I’m not a physician so please take my suggestions with a grain of salt. What I do know, is that you are at a much higher risk of reetinal detatchment which can lead to severe vision limitations and/or blindness.
On the other hand, I understand the want to go back to training.In addition to talking things over with your opthamologist, I would try to do the following to reduce the risk of damaging the eye.
1. Let your insturctors know about your limitations as well as anyone you are working with in drills, self-defense, and if you choose to, sparring.
2. If there is a risk of contact to the eye area, consider wearing head gear. Not the typical martial arts head gear like they use in Tae Kwon Do, but boxing head gear. You also see basketball players who have a face/eye injury wearing a clear plastic mask. I don’t know the cost or accessability but it might be worth looking into as well.
3. Avoid or modify any drills or activities that may present a risk. There is still alot of things you can do in class that will benefit your KM training.
4. As I’m sure you know, pay close attention to symptoms that might indicate a problem especially if you receive contact to or near the eye. Blurred or double vision and increased floaters or flashes.
Alomocitykid,
I have had cataract surgory on both eyes, about two years apart. In both cases , I skipped Krav classes for a week or two. My doctor said I could go back to class, but avoid strenous workouts and any contact to the eye. At my second follow-up examination (about a month after surgory) my doctor told me I was good to go – resume normal activities. I have not had any problems with my Krav training.On a second note, I think cataract surgory is the best thing since sliced bread and peanut butter. (Beats the hell out of Lasik.) After wearing glasses to see distance for years and years, I no longer have to wear glasses. The doctor adjusted the new lenses so I have \”monovision\”. I see distance with one eye and close up with the other. I love it. I do need glasses sometimes to read very fine print. And sometimes I wear glasses when driving at night in bad weather conditions. Other than t hat, I’m glasses free. 😀
You could try to wear a pair of those protective goggles basketball players or other athletes sometimes wear. Don’t know what they are called, but they look like large swim goggles. A guy at the NTC wears those and he can do all the drills plus sparring with them.
One other thing about retina detachment, Im not a Dr but I play one on TV…
Eyes=Sensitive
Some people can detach a retina by sneezing too hard if you can believe that..Besides the obvious pain, treatment includes laying on your stomach with your head below your body for approx 1 week, you have about 45 mintues a day to eat, drink, relax, bathroom, then it is back to that postion.
This is after they insert a needle into your eye and blow gas into the area to force the two back together.
Bottom line, dont mess around….Wear a helmet if you have to but your Dr will give the thumbs up when ready.
NDon’t they laser the retina back together when it starts to detach? My mother had that done many years ago. But I think it might not have detached completely. It was scary, but I don’t think it was too painful, at least not as bad as what you described.
After that description, I don’t think I’ll ever sneeze again! 🙁
Not sure on the laser question…
I familiar with this as of late becasue my cousin just went through this and my uncle is an eye surgeon. My cousin completly detached his retina sneezing. For 7 freaking days he layed on his stomach and was told to stay that way 24×7 except 45 minutes per day.
He also said the pain was terrible and they put him on Vicodin, etc. to help him cope.As far as the sneezing part that did it, it seems to run in certain families.
N
Eye Surgery
Thanks for all the replies to my post. My doctor advised me regarding retinal detachment, so I limited my exercises until I recently received the OK to pursue more strenuous activities. I have a racketball/squash eye protector which seems to provide good protection. I haven’t found goggles with equally good capability, although I am investigating some types used by our troops in combat zones. In the meantime, I am staying with level one drills which don’t involve much danger of getting hit in the eye.
Alamo City Kid
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
