Macular Degeneration and shooting

[bbbass]

Floaters, I had an over abundance of them for many years, Drs say nothing they can do for that…

Actshully Jim, there are some specialist opthamologists that can do surgery to remove floaters. But AFAIK it carries a risk. They remove the fluid inside the eyeball, which sucks out the floater/debris, and replace it. Kinda deflates the eye and then reinflates it... gotta get the pressure just right. I don't know if there is a laser surgery for that, would be nice. My eye doc hasn't said so. He has been blasting me on the back of the eye to keep the swelling down, but I don't like it. So bright it is painful!!!

 

[bbbass]

Don't want to gp too far off topic, but how well do those work with scopes and open sights? That's kind of my worry.

My distance cataract replacement lenses work fine with a scope, if it wasn't for the other issues, but iron sights is something I haven't used in many years other than pistol. For pistol, I wear my reading glasses.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Don't want to gp too far off topic, but how well do those work with scopes and open sights? That's kind of my worry.

It's like trying to use bifocals while shootin, I can see the sights real good but the target is blurry.
Like @bbbass said I rarely use iron sights anymore, just red/green dots.

 

[Caveman Jim]

That's terrible my friend!!!

Deaf, blind, and dumb = not good at all. Who's going to bait your hook for you and see the pole bob when you get a bite???

Oh, I'll still be able to shout commands on the FV: Bloody Deck but the 1st mate would surely not want to follow them.
The crew will alert me as to when a bite occurs and I know how to fight fish, blindfolded.

 

[bbbass]

Oh, I'll still be able to shout commands on the FV: Bloody Deck but the 1st mate would surely not want to follow them.
The crew will alert me as to when a bite occurs and I know how to fight fish, blindfolded.

But can you pilot blindfolded???

You'll look like some of the YouTube vids of boating fails.

 

[3MTA3]

Actshully Jim, there are some specialist opthamologists that can do surgery to remove floaters. But AFAIK it carries a risk. They remove the fluid inside the eyeball, which sucks out the floater/debris, and replace it. Kinda deflates the eye and then reinflates it... gotta get the pressure just right. I don't know if there is a laser surgery for that, would be nice. My eye doc hasn't said so. He has been blasting me on the back of the eye to keep the swelling down, but I don't like it. So bright it is painful!!!

There are now more options including laser treatments to dissolve the floaters.

There was also a study done in the last few years showing that eating pineapple everyday for months can cause significant improvements due to an enzyme. The group that had slices every day showed a 75% improvement. Love pineapple, and no downside, so am going to give this a try.

Link to study: http://www.jofamericanscience.org/journals/am-sci/jas150419/03_34649jas150419_17_30.pdf

 

[Caveman Jim]

But can you pilot blindfolded???

You'll look like some of the YouTube vids of boating fails.

Nope, fighting fish I can do.

 

[bbbass]

There are now more options including laser treatments to dissolve the floaters.

There was also a study done in the last few years showing that eating pineapple everyday for months can cause significant improvements due to an enzyme. The group that had slices every day showed a 75% improvement. Love pineapple, and no downside, so am going to give this a try.

Link to study: http://www.jofamericanscience.org/journals/am-sci/jas150419/03_34649jas150419_17_30.pdf

I'll have to check that out!

I'm not sure if the "floaters" in my eye are debris in the liquid or if it is because of the residue left behind on the Macula when the steroid shots dried up the swelling. It'd be worth me following up cuz it's really bad. Maybe they can do something about the bulging eye pressure that caused one eye to see the image much bigger than the other, drives me nutz and I have a hard time reading/driving/TV.

I love pineapple but it really zings my blood sugar!!!

 

[bbbass]

Nope, fighting fish I can do.

Well, if ya weren't so danged far away, this one eyed ol Coastie would pilot for ya!!!

 

[bbbass]

Link to study: http://www.jofamericanscience.org/journals/am-sci/jas150419/03_34649jas150419_17_30.pdf

I downloaded and saved that. Skimmed it and will concentrate on it later... right now my eyes are screwed from closeup/computer. But I did see that only 3 or so pcs after lunch can be beneficial... that should be manageable for a diabetic.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Well, if ya weren't so danged far away, this one eyed ol Coastie would pilot for ya!!!

I'm not to that point to where I can't drive or anything like that but it does interfere with reading on my phone. I have now started using my tablet a lot more.

 

[bbbass]

I'm not to that point to where I can't drive or anything like that but it does interfere with reading on my phone. I have now started using my tablet a lot more.

Yah, I don't do puter stuff on my phone. That is just one of the reasons. I keep my cellphone program to $10 per month by using Page Plus plan for 500min/500text/1Gig data. The data would get used up pretty quickly.

The lions share of my forum use is on the laptop. I could use a tablet I suppose, but I would want a keyboard attached, so might as well stick to the laptop. I have a desktop in the office that I use for banking etc because it is a direct connection, don't want to do banking on WiFi nor on the cellphone.

 

[41mag]

Post cataract surgery I had to demand answers to question of who took the fuzzy ball on the front of my barrel & put that sharp edged metal thing out there.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Post cataract surgery I had to demand answers to question of who took the fuzzy ball on the front of my barrel & put that sharp edged metal thing out there.

I was not complaining one bit when the smudges on my glasses went away…

 

[Flopsweat]

But can you pilot blindfolded???

You'll look like some of the YouTube vids of boating fails.

Wait for it...

 

[BigShot]

Hey all,

New guy here. I've already posted on the New Member Introduction section, so now I have a question.

Is anyone else a rifle shooter struggling with Macular Degeneration? I was diagnosed with it about 2 years ago, and it has slowly begun to steal my eyesight.

As you may have read in my Intro, I love doing rifle target shooting (as well as plinking and casual shooting, of course), and I'm trying to figure out ways to maximize the time I have left that I can still shoot.

Right now, I see well enough to use scopes and SOME iron sights. With both, I need to "scrunch around" to get the scope image/sight picture into the clearest area of my eye, but it's doable. I'm sure as my sight gets worse, that area will become smaller and harder to find. Some iron sights are better for me than others, and I have to use a bit of guesswork as well.

One of the things that I can recommend to anyone else in this situation is trying different targets: different colors, different shapes, different backgrounds. I've been experimenting with printing some targets and modifying others, making my own reactive "ShootNC" targets, using brown paper grocery bags as backers, etc. I've found that my eyes see diamonds better than bullseye circles, that certain line thicknesses are easier to see, that certain colors are easier to distinguish, and that I need a lot more contrast than before the Mac Degen.

So...anyone else in this situation? Any tips/techniques to share?

Very interesting discussion on macular degeneration. I to have a MD. Came down with it 3 1/2 years ago, I am 79, I believe I inherited it from my mothers side of the family as several of her family members also had it. The vision in my right eye is pretty much shot, except I still have good field of vision in it. With my left eye I can still see good enough to drive. I do get injections in my left eye every other month from Eyelea From my retinas specialist. I am still able to shoot a handgun OK, but I can't shoot a rifle because I can't see them on the sights. I actually came on this website tonight to see if anybody else had ideas on how I might be able to shoot a rifle with some kind of accuracy. I had to quit flying because of AMD. And it has really restricted my life in so many ways. But there are a lot of worse things out there, so I am thankful that I don't have one of those. And best of luck to you and all the other people who wrote him saying that they have AMD. LARRY