World views - things not to do after cataract surgery

As I write this, I am recuperating from cataract surgery in both my eyes. I'm doing well, thanks. It all happened very fast - mid December my eyesight degraded very rapidly, early January an opthalmologist told me I had cataracts in both eyes and he operated on me in the second half of February. I now have two bionic eyes and have swapped triple visual handicaps (not counting the cataracts) for just one: myopia plus astigmatism and presbyopia before, and just presbyopia - the need for reading glasses - after. My distance eyesight has never been this good, even with glasses. So assuming all keeps going well I am very happy.

After the surgery one has to recuperate and be a bit careful not to damage the freshly operated eye. Most eye doctors will advise you not to use hot tubs or saunas to avoid infection, not to touch your eyes, and to avoid strenuous exercise and contact sports for a while.

I searched the web a bit and found many surgeons telling their patients to avoid tennis but to go ahead playing golf. Which probably tells us a lot about the world they live in, as opposed to the average patient.

I live in rural France, and my cataract surgeon told me to avoid gardening (which involves a lot of bending over and lifting things) and sawing and chopping firewood. Hiking, driving, reading and watching tv were OK after a day or so.

Favorite tool of the rural French

Remarkably, on the site of an American eye clinic, I found the following advice: for three to four weeks, do not fire heavy rifles with a powerful recoil, but after a week you can resume firing pistols.

Different world views.

Toy of middle-aged American with bad eyesight