cataract- can not get meas on other eye

[jbb3910]

had cataract surgery on left eye-good. Right eye had temporary contacts while waiting for right cataract surgery. when went in for right eye cataract measurement, she could not get clear measurements, 4 days after left surgery. is this normal ? have to come back and not use temp. contact on right eye meas again in 4 days.

[jbb3910]

Before surgery, had glasses for both eyes. After left cataract surgery, righ eye used a temporary soft contact for 4 days before a measurement for right cataract surgery. This is when they could not get good meas.. So waiting 5 days for a new meas. seems like contact for 5 days should have no effect on  measurement, could it ?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Yes, even wearing a contact lens for a few hours can cause erroneous measurements.

[jbb3910]

Can you use glasses or readers and they wiil be able to make measurements ?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

It is ONLY contacts that mess up the measurements

[jbb3910]

why does this happen where you can not get good measurements? What measurements are they not getting clear.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

You will have to ask the surgeon's staff. generally the shape of the cornea is measured (keratometry) and the length of the eye.

[jbb3910]

how long before they can get good measurements. Is this occurance common ?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

It isn't common because we ask patients not to wear their contacts on either eye several weeks before surgery.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Our offices have patients leave soft contact lens out for 2-3 days before making pre-operative measurements and gas permeable rigid contacts for 2 weeks and do two sets of measurements to be sure they agree.  If they can't get good measurements best to postpone the surgery till readings are clear.