Cataract Surgery & CPAP masks UPDATE

[VikingGnome]

This morning I had cataract surgery on my right eye (I think I was the youngest person at the surgery center). I'm worried about how I can wear the hard plastic eye shield the surgeon wants me to wear at night with a CPAP mask. Anyone face this problem? Suggestions?

I not sure why I got cataracts so early. My father had cataracts at age 72 and my mother at age 86. I just turned 60. Could 13 years of CPAP with air leaking into my eyes have anything to do with it? They say that only known causes of cataracts are heredity, diabetes, and excessive exposure to UV light. (Oh, and old age).

UPDATE:
First postop day. Amazing how well I can see with my operated eye. My vision is much better than my other eye. Saw doc this AM and everything is fine. I'm scheduled to have other eye done July 15.

About OSA and cataract surgery: cataract surgery takes only 15 minutes so no need to tote your CPAP gear. My surgery was done under Versed sedation. My anesthesiologist said he could give whatever amount needed to provide my desired level of alertness. I told him I did not want to be alert AT ALL. He said if I started to desat he'd just give me a little oxygen.

POSTOP ISSUES

My eye doc wanted me to wear a hard plastic shield over my eye when napping or sleeping to avoid accidently rubbing my eye. The hard plastic shield is quite large covering entire eye socket up to eyebrows, not just eyeball and lids. You tape it over eye. I'm allergic to paper tape so they gave me some 3M plastic tape (removing tape is brutal, especially eyebrows). Today they gave me silk tape which is much easier to remove.

I use Hans Rudolph FF mask. The Hans Rudolph at the top of the nose is quite wide so almost touches the inner corners of my eyes anyway. So there was no room for the nose part of the mask to seal with the eye shield in place. I tried moving the plastic shield away from nose to make just enough room for nose part of mask to seal. Part of my eye was not covered by shield. But then there was hard plastic sticking out beyond the outside corner of my eye which made sleeping on my right side impossible. The biggest problem was the Hans Rudolph headgear. The upper strap goes just under the eye. It touches my lower lid. There was no way to wear that headgear with the plastic eye shield. The strap pushed the eye shield into my eye (not good). So I ditched the FF mask and put on my ACTIVA LT nasal mask. The nose part was slimmer so only had to move plastic shield a little. No problem with that headgear. So mouth breathing will be a problem the next month but that's my best solution.

Whether or not a person has a problem after cataract surgery with CPAP mask depends on a lot of things. Some eye docs send you home with a simple black cloth "pirate" patch. This shouldn't pose a problem with CPAP masks. If your doc gives you a hard plastic shield, then you have potential problems.

Your facial anatomy. If your eyes are wide set, then you shouldn't have much of a problem with the nose part fitting and sealing with the plastic shield over your eye. If your eyes are close set like mine, you will have issues.

The design of your FF mask and the width of nose at the top can pose potential problems. Also, your headgear could be a problem if the straps normally fit close to eyes.

So take a look at your mask and headgear. Cut out a piece of paper that covers your eye socket and tape in place. Then put on mask. Does the mask at the top of nose cover any part of the paper patch? Do the headgear straps come too close to your paper patch or actually touch it? If so, you better investigate a temporary solution. (But NOT USING CPAP should not be considered IMO.)

[chunkyfrog]

The key is "known" causes. Medical science is not yet privy to ALL the causes.

[DoriC]

VG, I don't have any suggestions for you but I'd be very interested in your update. My hubby is having a surgical consult Friday for both eyes and if he gets medical clearance I'll be asking questions about cpap too. Mike wears a FF mask so not so good!

[msla]

I had mine done in my late 40s. I was amused that the brochures had images of really "old people" compared to me. My surgery was before CPAP, so I can not help you there.

[joelrk35]

I have had both eyes done and had no problems using my CPAP. My doctor had me use the shield over my eye for the first week to keep any foreign objects out, be it a finger or whatever. I use the RespCare hybrid mask and it was not a problem. I am not familiar with your mask so can't be sure if the shield will be in the way but the shield just covers the eye socket and shouldn't be a problem.

[fringel]

I had cataract surgery on both eyes at age 42. I was the yongest in the ambulatory surgey center by almost 30 years. I had mine before cpap.

In the worst case, you may have a problem with the tape from the eye shield or perhaps the shield itself interfering with the way your maks seals but, if you are like most people, you'll be rid of the shield in no more than a week, perhaps sooner, so to the extent it is a problem, it will be very short lived. If you have problems with leaks around your eyes, the shield will block that, so thee are plusses and minuses to the situation.

Good Luck.

Fred

[DoriC]

Thanks, sounds encouraging.

[n0hardmask]

This morning I had cataract surgery on my right eye (I think I was the youngest person at the surgery center). I'm worried about how I can wear the hard plastic eye shield the surgeon wants me to wear at night with a CPAP mask. Anyone face this problem? Suggestions?

I not sure why I got cataracts so early. My father had cataracts at age 72 and my mother at age 86. I just turned 60. Could 13 years of CPAP with air leaking into my eyes have anything to do with it? They say that only known causes of cataracts are heredity, diabetes, and excessive exposure to UV light. (Oh, and old age)...........snip....

POSTOP ISSUES

My eye doc wanted me to wear a hard plastic shield over my eye when napping or sleeping to avoid accidently rubbing my eye. The hard plastic shield is quite large covering entire eye socket up to eyebrows, not just eyeball and lids. You tape it over eye. I'm allergic to paper tape so they gave me some 3M plastic tape (removing tape is brutal, especially eyebrows). Today they gave me silk tape which is much easier to remove.

VG, as for the age, someone posted they had surgery at 42; I know a family whose women get clear cataracts early on. The clear factor and young age make it likely not to be caught.
The suggestion of a soft eye patch would be the trick, i'd think. So,,,, how long till you get the other eye diagnosed and fixed? Sorry, but there are far worse prognoses than cataracts, these days. Glad the recovery is going well.

[VikingGnome]

VG, as for the age, someone posted they had surgery at 42; I know a family whose women get clear cataracts early on. The clear factor and young age make it likely not to be caught.
The suggestion of a soft eye patch would be the trick, i'd think. So,,,, how long till you get the other eye diagnosed and fixed?

I get my other eye fixed July 15 (just two weeks after first eye). Can't wait to get it all done. My doc doesn't like the cloth patch as it can rub on the eye when blinking, opening and closing eye in sleep. The hard plastic eye shield has lots of holes to insure plenty of oxygen to the eye. So it won't protect from air leakage from CPAP mask.

Couldn't get my FF mask to seal so switch back to my trusty ACTIVA LT and tape over my mouth. My AHI was 0.4 this AM. So at least I know I have a back up that works when I can't use FF mask.

[idamtnboy]

I not sure why I got cataracts so early. My father had cataracts at age 72 and my mother at age 86. I just turned 60. Could 13 years of CPAP with air leaking into my eyes have anything to do with it?

I doubt CPAP had anything to do with it. I had cataract surgery on both eyes at about age 58, long before I even knew CPAP existed.

[Guest]

The semi clear plastic tape used to hold the plastic eye shield on does have a very good adhesive that is difficult to pull off in the morning from the skin. I use adhesive tape Remover Pads that you should be able to get from the doctor. As you begin to pull off the tape that is even difficult to start, wipe the remover pad across the sticky side of the tape back and forth as you gentle and slowly pull the tape backwards. Be careful not to get the pad ingredients into the eye. The ingredients contains some alcohol with other ingredients that dissolve the adhesive. Works like a charm with out pain or damaging the skin if done properly. My wife was able to use her rest-med swift nostril cpap head gear with the plastic eye shield in place ok.

[LSAT]

The semi clear plastic tape used to hold the plastic eye shield on does have a very good adhesive that is difficult to pull off in the morning from the skin. I use adhesive tape Remover Pads that you should be able to get from the doctor. As you begin to pull off the tape that is even difficult to start, wipe the remover pad across the sticky side of the tape back and forth as you gentle and slowly pull the tape backwards. Be careful not to get the pad ingredients into the eye. The ingredients contains some alcohol with other ingredients that dissolve the adhesive. Works like a charm with out pain or damaging the skin if done properly. My wife was able to use her rest-med swift nostril cpap head gear with the plastic eye shield in place ok.

4

Interesting, but you are replying to a 4 year old post.

[JimW159]

Interesting, but you are replying to a 4 year old post.

My first clue was the Hans Rudolph mask - my first thought was "how long has she been on CPAP?" AT least she seems to have stayed up to date with what she uses now (and the profile).

[ClayL]

I had the left eye done in Dec and the right eye done in Jan. My surgeon said studies and his experience has shown that eye shields really aren't needed. For a month after surgery he does require four different eye drops four times a day, after the first week dropping to three types four times a day. Today is the last eye drop day.
I had great results with both eyes.
Except for reading/computer monitor I no longer need glasses/contacts which I have worn since about 1949.
It is simply amazing how white whites are, how bright everything looks and how much better I see at night. The cataracts were a brown color that changed the way colors look and restricted the light reaching the retina.