This is not medical advice; I’ve already met with the eye surgeon, and got her point of view. I’m just looking for opinions.
I’ll be having cataract surgery on one eye in the very near future, possibly within days. I spoke with the surgeon about getting a generic lens vs. one that corrects my vision problems (farsightedness and astigmatism). She told me that some people have refraction problems with the correcting lenses, and she urged me to just get the generic. There’s also the fact that Medicare will pay for the generic, but if I get a correcting lens I’d have to pay the difference. For me, though, especially since I’m an artist, the quality of my vision is more important than money. And there’s also the fact that within another couple of years, my “good” eye will develop cataracts as well.
So I’m asking this of people who have already had this surgery: Which lens did you get? Do you regret making that decision?
If you got the correcting lens, have you had problems with it? Can you really see without glasses now (at least through the eye that got the surgery?
Speaking for my acquaintances, those who have had cataracts surgery and who used to need glasses went for the “two birds with one stone” approach. This includes a couple of uncles, one aunt, my landlady in Miami and several friends and neighbors of my mother’s. Some still needed glasses, some didn’t, but this depends on when the surgery took place (astigmatism didn’t use to be correctable with these techniques), how bad their vision used to be, and also whether they only had surgery in one eye and the other one still was “bad”.
Would the refraction problems be very different from the ones Lasiked people sometimes get? I do have halos, but it’s only on bright lamps over a dark background (for example road lamps) so it doesn’t bother me.
Not AFAIK, I know several cases who wear glasses over “corrected-in-cataract-surgery” eyes. In some cases, because of uncorrected astigmatism, in others due to old age catching up, in others progressive myopia. Not a problem.
I have the corrective lenses implanted in both eyes, and I still wear my glasses. It is due to the corrective lenses not correcting my astigmatism completely. I can function without my glasses. It is just that the world is slightly out of focus without them.
I’ve had the surgery in both eyes. Get the corrected lenses. The surgery and associated costs are still the same [IME about 95% of the operation}. There is some added expense due to more extensive eye measurements but it should not be excessive.
I opted to be able to see at distance after 45+ years of being a “4-eye”. I could then wear “cool” sunglasses instead of dorky clip-ons. Yeah, I had to get some drug store reading glasses for close work but it was a small price to pay for freedom from having to find my glasses to perform daily tasks like driving or being able to spot my lost sock from across the room. Heck, I needed glasses to find my glasses.
You can opt for close-in vision as well if that’s what important. And, I believe there are progressive lenses now than can be implanted to cover all distances.
There is a problem with overhead lighting especially at night with road signs. The halo effect, but it’s not severe in my case.
Note that your eyes may continue to change with age and you’ll end up with needing glasses again in the future.
I’m sorry you’re having to go through this. But I’d be curious; can they set you up with cartoony lenses, like with x’s or dollar signs? Or fix you up so you could do this? (googly-eyes pic, sfw)
I had cataract surgery in both eyes and was very myopic at about a -6 dioptor in both eyes. I had myopia correcting lenses put in, but was left with about a -2 dioptor in both eyes along with a cylinder of -3, giving me pretty bad astigmatism. Since the lenses are pretty much rigid, I now have to wear progressive bifocal glasses, which kind of sucks, but then they aren’t coke bottle anymore, so it’s much, much more tolerable.
There’s an odd bit of grating of light that goes on when there is a very bright light coming from the periphery that I assume is somehow the edge of my iris or something. There is a small amount of cloudiness in one eye.
My corneas sag too much to qualify for traditional LASIK, although my opthamologist thought that he could still pull it off. I went down to the Jules Stein Institute at UCLA for a second opinion and they told me to not take the chance. I figure I’ll just wait for clinical trials of riboflavin based collagen crosslinking cornea strengthening to be completed.
Even though my outcome was less than optimal, I’m still happy as hell that I can see as well as I can and it’s quite tolerable.
My mom got the corrective lenses when she had cataract surgery and was happy with the result. She still had to wear glasses for some things, but it was a significantly less strong prescription and her uncorrected visions was much better than it had been.
So the consensus seems to be to get the correcting lenses, even if I’ll still have to wear glasses afterward . . . especially since I’ll be needing the other eye done in 2-3 years. My main goal is not to have to wear glasses for close-up work. How realistic is that?
You can get them for close work or to see far, and as I mentioned upthread, progressive. The lens are fairly rigid so you need the doctor to measure the eyeball for a good adjustment at the range you want to see well at. (i.e., do you work at a foot and a half or at three feet or six feet).
You’ll have to talk to your eye surgeon to be sure.
It might require implanted lenses that are geared towards giving you good near vision rather than far, and if that’s what you want be sure to make sure the surgeon doing the operation knows that. It might be possible in your situation, but those of us in messageboardland won’t be able to give you a definitive answer.
The other factor is your presbyopia. That depends on your age and probably other stuff I’m not aware of. If it has stabilized and is unlikely to change then, again, it might be doable but if it’s still progressing then even if you came out of surgery seeing up close just fine it won’t last - a few years later you’ll be needing reading glasses again.
You might consider having the first corrected lens for far vision, and then the second for near vision. Your brain is able to adjust and you’d be able to see both near and far after the second operation. You’d have to talk to your ophtalmologist.
I have some cataracts now (I’m 73) and have an eye appointment next month for the consideration of cataract surgery. I’d gladly pay the extra few bucks for corrective lenses. I did have RK (radial keratotomy) in 1991, but still have -2 in the left, although my right is near normal. However, I do now have some astigmatism (-2 to -3) caused by the operations.
needscoffee:
My vision had stabilized in 1991 to about -7. My add-on (near vision) has not changed for over a decade).
Actually, not everyone can adapt to that. The older you are the more likely you are to have trouble. Also, this tends to work better for women than for men (the theory is that is has to do with differences between men’s and women’s brains, but there is no definitive proof). It can also affect your depth perception, in some cases significantly, so people who like sports involving ball throwing/chasing/catching or things like hunting or target practice may not want to do this.
It is possible to try this sort of correction out before surgery by use of contact lenses that correct one eye to near and one to far vision. Me, if I was contemplating such a permanent change in my vision I’d want to try it out first, but not everyone does this.
I’ve had surgery in both eyes. I went with fixed focal length lenses corrected for distance vision in both eyes. I shoot pistols in competition and thought that the near/far option would not be as usable to me.
I had astigmatism, but it was in the lens rather than in the cornea, so it was corrected by the surgery. If the astigmatism had been in the cornea it could have been corrected, but I would have had to pay an extra $250 per lens.
I did not get the lenses that the eye can focus because the surgeon said that my prescription was such that he felt I’d not be happy with the results.
If I sit in dim lighting with light off to either side of my face I do get some reflection, but it’s not a problem.
I drive and watch TV with no glasses, and can wear the cool sunglasses.
I had congenital cataracts and had artificial lenses implanted in both eyes when I was a teenager. I’ve since developed nearsightedness and a mild astigmatism and now wear glasses. There haven’t been any problems with the lenses.
I have had surgery in both eyes with a generic transplant, I also have glaucoma,and now even have a special precription for my glasses. My vision is 20/20 with glasses but doesn’t help the side vision any. I had an infection with the first surgery and had a couple of laser surgries after that to correct the pupil. The second was done by a different doctor and I had no problem’s at all.
My dear mother in law got corrective lenses in both eyes. She is a major-league crocheter, and drives without glasses to this day (during the day). She is 95.
I have severe astigmatism and myopia, to the point that I cannot get regular LASIK. My other option was to have the corrective lenses that you describe.
The short answer is there isn’t enough information to tell you one way or the other (so consult your doctor…wasn’t that helpful? )
There are a few issues (and people are confusing a few different things in this thread):
First of all is distortion caused by your eyeglasses. You mentioned being farsighted and astigmatic. If you are moderately (say,+ 3.00 or more) or strongly (say,+ 5.00 or more) diopters farsighted, and wear eyeglasses to correct this, you are getting a certain amount of magnification of images through your lenses, as plus lenses magnify images. Your two prescriptions might not be identical, but if they are similar, you are viewing two magnified images via both eyes and there is no relative image distortion in comparing the two images between your two eyes. Even if your prescriptions are somewhat different between the two eyes, the difference is (probably, without knowing your particular history) a long-term one, which you’ve adjusted to over the years.
Now you have the opportunity to make your vision 20/20 (distance vision) in one eye via cataract surgery! Sounds great, right? However, the problem is if you continue to correct for your hyperopia and astigmatism in your non-operated eye, each eye receives images of a different size. Some people adjust, some people are driven nuts by this (and have a form of permanent diplopia, or experience objects/space as tilting, or various other aberrations.) If you want to approximate what this will be like (and it’s not a perfect approximation, but it’s close) you can try wearing one contact lens that corrects you fully in one eye and one “plus lens” that corrects you fully in the other.
That’s one issue. The other thing is that many people opt for “progressive” implanted lenses which provide some ability to see clearly at distance and near. These are always a compromise – no operation can give a 70 year old the focusing power of a 20 year old. So-called “accommodating lenses” are a daydream at this point in time. There are lenses that may increase depth of focus, but that’s it. Some people love these, some people don’t get used to them. Generally vision is not as crisp at distance and at near as it is with glasses, and some people adjust and some do not. Again, if you are curious as to whether you can adjust to this, you can try bifocal contact lenses (but this is also an approximation of what the implanted lenses are like, as each as a particular patented design.) Common complaints are blur and glare at night.
I hope that is helpful. Remember that you can always get a second opinion if you’re wondering if your doctor’s advice is sound…and that a lot of the answers to your questions really depend on the refractive state of your eye and your history.