 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: mary
Date: 2002-05-07 04:56
A question for any doctors out there-
I'm scheduled for laser surgery to correct nearsighted and astigmatism. I have an opera performance 2 evenings after the surgery. Is there a medical reason why clarinet playing that soon after surgery would be a bad idea? (back pressure and the like) I've asked my optometrist, but he doesn't know enough about wind instruments for me to altogether trust his advice...
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-05-07 17:00
I've had the same questions, due to cataracts. One ophthalmologist told me not to play for a whole month, but my current doctor says about 2 weeks. I don't know the difference between your surgery and cataract surgery, and I am NOT a doctor...
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Author: Robert Gifford
Date: 2002-05-07 17:03
Ask your doctor. For what I've heard if your getting Lasik (or a similar type) then usually your good the next day, for the most part. Most of the time they just don't advise you to drive that afternoon, but usually your sight is good. Pressure really shoulden't affect it, the only main thing with lasik type surguries are being able to see after its done.
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Author: connie
Date: 2002-05-08 19:10
Ask the surgeon, not the optometrist. It doesn't matter what any of us say, if you have a bad result the surgeon is the one responsible, so you need to follow his/her advice.
I had mine done 18 mos ago, but he couldn't do the LASIK because I needed so much correction; what I had was PRK, where they actually slice off the top of the cornea and there's no flap. The flap procedure definitely heals quicker and and is less uncomfortable the next day...I felt like had major grit under a non-existent contact lens for days. Fortunately, I had one eye done at a time (at the sage advice of my doctor) so that I had a good eye at all times. And now I love being able to see!
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Author: mary
Date: 2002-05-09 05:26
Just to respond- I found a clarinet-playing laser surgeon on the internet, and called his office. The folk there assured me that I'd be fine to play my gig 2 nights after the surgery. Thanks all!
Mary
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Author: RogerWM
Date: 2002-05-10 16:07
Mary,
I had Lasik surgery done about 1 1/2 years ago, and the results are amazing. I was very farsighted with astigmatism, and I now am 20/20, 20/30 on a bad day. Yes, IDEALLY, your vision should be fine after 1-2 days. However, you should realize that during this period, your eyesight may fluctuate. The first 2 weeks are a critical healing period. Because this is a traumatic procedure for your eyes, there is a slight chance that your eye(s) may internally swell after the procedure. Of course, internal swelling would affect your vision. This has nothing to do with the doctor's skill. It is merely because people's eyes react differently after the surgery. This is what happened to one of my eyes after surgery. After about 2 weeks of extra-strong anti-inflammatory treatment, the swelling went down, and it was fine. I just thought you should be made aware of this. If it were my decision, I would postpone the surgery (or the recital) and allow about 1 month, just to be sure. You PROBABLY will be OK after 1-2 days, but there is always that chance.
Cheers,
RogerWM
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Author: forest@woodwind.org
Date: 2002-05-14 02:15
Mary,
I'm no doctor...but I am a professional clarinet player who did play a four hour opera 3 days after laser surgery on both eyes. It was a challenge. Vision slowly returns after this type of surgery. Each day things get a little better. In my case (3 days) it was like seeing through celephane. My doctor told me that performing would not hurt his work...but that I may have an especially difficult time seeing the music with the limited light provided by a stand light. His astute observation proved to be correct. If I were to do it again...I would have had opera company provide a sub for the production or rescheduled the procedure durning the off season.
Forest Aten
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Author: forest@woodwind.org
Date: 2002-05-14 02:17
Mary,
If you do this...let us know how it worked out.
Forest
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