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Let's talk about cataract surgery.....

Sirius Glass said:
Now for the first time every I have a driver's license without any eye restrictions!
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Me and my wife both got lasik surgery in our 20s. It also allowed us to remove the eye restrictions from our driver's licenses. Great feeling. We were pretty blind without glasses beforehand. I could see about 3 feet in front of my face.
 
During planning for wife's cataract removal, I learned some points of information, both from a video and from pre-surgical consultation with surgeon:
  • Single vision lenses correct the post-cataract vision more clearly than bifocal or trifocal cataract implant lenses (even if you are willing to pay bifocal/trifocal lens higher price)
  • Some eyes are structured so they simply cannot take bifocal or trifocal cataract implant lenses
  • Toric lenses are for correction of astigmatism, but are used only when astigmatism is severe enough (even if you are willing to pay their higher price)
  • Monovision post-cataract surgery is usually recommended only when you successrully once used monovision correction (prior to cataracts).
My wife has trifocal glassess, but one of her eyes will not allow her surgeon to even consider trifocal implants for cataract removal, and her astigmatism is mild enough that she is not considered to be a candidate for Toric lenses. Since she used monovision correction with contact lenses prior to using glasses, her surgeon recommends monovision post-cataract removal. Her surgery for one eye comes next week, and the second eye will be done after our return from European holiday (her choice not to do both eyes same day)
In the context of photography, monovision is problematic when the dominant right eye is corrected for distance vision (recommended) and the other eye is corrected for reading closer so it forces use of the left eye to aim using a viewfinder when most cameras are designed for right eye aiming...it necessitates camera eyepieces that are adjusted to provide clear view with an eye that is best suited for distance
 
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I am a bit surprised that cataract surgery can relieve one of the need for glasses when driving. I understand that infinity distance is likely perfect but one still needs to see the dashboard.
 
cowanw said:
I am a bit surprised that cataract surgery can relieve one of the need for glasses when driving. I understand that infinity distance is likely perfect but one still needs to see the dashboard.
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The dashboard is quite visible unless you sit less than 18” from the wheel.
 

I was advised that focus-able implants and astigmatism correction implants are not so effective and can produce to unwanted vision attributes.
 
Pieter12 said:
The dashboard is quite visible unless you sit less than 18” from the wheel.
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My infinity vision is 20/20 and I do not have problems seeing the dashboard or reading a book. Over one year post op for one eye and five years post op for the other eye.
 
Sirius Glass said:
My infinity vision is 20/20 and I do not have problems seeing the dashboard or reading a book. Over one year post op for one eye and five years post op for the other eye.
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What type of implant lenses did you opt for?
 
ill be having it done this thurs so reading the posts here confirms everything friends said about it. 15 minutes on the table is all it takes. the people that encouraged me said you gain a couple stops in brightness as well as charity n contrast. they all got the standard monofical implant. the doc offered the bifocal and even the trifocal implant but advised me for my condition the mono is the best choice because he is going to ballance my near vision with both eyes that are/will be far sighted after surgery.

ill still need glasses n contacts but the prescription is mild compared to what i have now since my left isnt that bad and wont need correction for many years, he says.

its been a pita focusing cameras using my left eye and im tired of having the feeling of something is covering my eye... especially noticable driving at night, the glare is terrable.

i wonder how soon i can wear contacts after surgery? i hate glasses n only use them around the house.
 
Sirius Glass said:
My infinity vision is 20/20 and I do not have problems seeing the dashboard or reading a book. Over one year post op for one eye and five years post op for the other eye.
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I also had surgery on both eyes almost 12 month ago now, and also have 20/20 distance and no problems at all reading the displays and dashboard in my car.

Although my right eye has adjusted a little and isn't quite as good as it was post op - it's still 20/20 on exam but almost not... I believe some PCO is showing up.
 
wiltw said:
What type of implant lenses did you opt for?
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I discussed all the options that were available and my ophthalmologist strongly advised that I get the simplest plain implants which are the only ones covered by Medicare. I had wanted them to be somewhat farsighted and then I would wear reading glasses to read, since I had needed to wear glasses since I was 12. She told me not to do that and she was right. With the implants I got, almost all the astigmatism disappeared.
 

Been there, had that (PCO), don't recommend it. I had more laser surgery to remove it. Am now corrected to 20/15 in both eyes, back to where I was before my cataracts became significant.
 
My wife's cataract removal will be done in one eye first for distance with monofocal standard implant on Wednesday (3 days from now), with second eye scheduled for monovision at intermediate distance in the not-distant future. (She successfully had used contacts for monovision in the past, so that is the initial plan pre-cataract surgery.)

It will be interesting to see how her vision in the first eye works out, relative to being able to read at intermediate distance (computer monitor, dashboard in car), before her second eye is done...gives her a chance to change her mind about monovision and do both for 'distance', given the many responses about ability to successfully read intermediate distance even without bifocal implants.

Although she is not a photographer, knowing that monofocal correction often permits successful vision for both distant and intermediate focus means that, for photographers without cameras with built-in diopter eyepieces, they should be able to look thru and see the viewfinder display successfully, even without bifocal post-cataract lens implants. I'll plan to hand her my film Olympus OM-1 and ask her to focus it with her corrected eye a couple weeks post cataract removal, and assess the accuracy, and report back later.
 
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paul ron said:
i wonder how soon i can wear contacts after surgery? i hate glasses n only use them around the house.
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The protocol apparently is to have a post-surgical evaluation by optometrist 4-6 weeks to determine if any supplemental corrective lenses are needed, and 4 weeks seems to be typical allowance for post-surgery healing
 
wiltw said:
The protocol apparently is to have a post-surgical evaluation by optometrist 4-6 weeks to determine if any supplemental corrective lenses are needed, and 4 weeks seems to be typical allowance for post-surgery healing
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I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but it was not to me: strong drops are used to dilate your eyes for surgery. In my case, it took maybe 48 hours for my eye to return to normal, so my vision was blurry
 

I tried monovision with soft contact lenses as a test. It drove me nuts!
 
Sirius Glass said:
I tried monovision with soft contact lenses as a test. It drove me nuts!
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Many years ago when I first started with a monovision prescription, my eye doctor explained that it only worked with hard contact lenses and it was not for everyone. For me, there was an adaptation period of a few weeks if I recall.
 
Pieter12 said:
Many years ago when I first started with a monovision prescription, my eye doctor explained that it only worked with hard contact lenses and it was not for everyone. For me, there was an adaptation period of a few weeks if I recall.
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That 'only with hard contacts' was far from reality...I have had monovision with soft contacts now for probably 15+ years.
 
wiltw said:
That 'only with hard contacts' was far from reality...I have had monovision with soft contacts now for probably 15+ years.
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I can only relate what was my experience. I had already been wearing hard contacts for over 10 years when I switched to a monovision prescription.
 
Pieter12 said:
I can only relate what was my experience. I had already been wearing hard contacts for over 10 years when I switched to a monovision prescription.
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Not doubting you or what your practioner told you...things pertaining to medicine can change very significantly in a short period of time!tr
I worked in radiation treatment systems for cancer, and I was treated myself with a methodology that did not exist 10 years earlier., and 5 years later yet another methology became available...both, via not only changing technology, but also the accumulation of enough clinical evidence of patients better treated and with fewer side effects to prove the technology benefits! Trifocal intraocular lenses have only been available for about 6 years.
 
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