Cataract Lenses: Options for Every Eye
As the most performed surgery in the United States, cataract surgery is extremely effective and among the safest procedures performed. During surgery, your surgeon removes your cloudy natural lens and replaces it with a new, clear lens implant.
Because you have a choice about how you want to use your vision after surgery, it’s important to educate yourself about your options. The lens you choose will impact your vision for the rest of your life, which is why Vance Thompson Vision offers a full range of lens implants to help you achieve your vision goals.
Traditional Monofocal Lenses
If you enjoy doing a lot with glasses, monofocal, or traditional “single vision,” lenses focus at one main point and that point can be set at distance, intermediate, or near. These implants allow for the sharpest possible vision at the set point — usually distance. However, standard monofocal lenses do not correct for astigmatism.
Because monofocal lenses are typically set to focus at distance, trifocal glasses are usually necessary to give patients clear vision at other distances. For patients who are comfortable wearing glasses after cataract surgery, our standard monofocal lenses are the most advanced in their category.
Multifocal Lens Implant
If you enjoy doing a lot without glasses, advanced lens implants might be for you. Advanced or multifocal lens implants refractive lenses that allow the eye to focus at multiple distances. They correct clarity and diminished reading range and have the potential to reduce or eliminate patients’ need for glasses after surgery.
Multifocal lenses are made up of concentric circles of varying power which allow the eye to focus at different distances. The center of the lens provides distance power, with each surrounding ring being used to provide quality vision at intermediate and close range.
Additionally, these lenses can correct astigmatism. Astigmatism happens when the eye’s cornea has a more oval or “football” shape. Toric, or astigmatism-correcting, multifocal lenses are specially designed to help reduce or eliminate astigmatism and provide excellent distance, intermediate, and near vision independent of glasses or contacts. Toric lenses may also improve contrast sensitivity in low-light situations and improve vision in challenging environments like fog and night glare.
Some eyes take longer than others to adapt to multifocal lenses. The potential exists for problems with halos and glare, particularly at night. However, such problems are limited and usually improve over time. Patients experiencing these difficulties still tend to experience better vision than they did prior to having the lens implanted.
Extended Depth of Focus Lens Implant
Rather than splitting light into distinct focal points as a multifocal lens does, an extended depth of focus (EDOF) lens implant elongates focus, which results in an increased depth of focus. EDOF lens implants have less risk of glare and halos. Some patients who chose this type of lens have reported less dependence on glasses.
Light Adjustable Lens™ Implant
The Light Adjustable Lens is the first and only lens that can be adjusted inside your eye after cataract surgery. Like a pair of glasses, your new implanted lens is set to a specific prescription based on measurements of your eye. With the LAL, those adjustments to your prescription are made after your eye is completely healed from surgery. With any cataract surgery, microscopic shifts can occur during healing affecting your final prescription. Being able to determine your prescription after surgery provides more precise measurements. In addition, you will receive a series of light treatments after surgery so that you can “test drive” and adjust your prescription until you determine the best vision for you. A final light treatment will complete your vision outcome.
Many patients choose an option called “blended vision” with the LAL lens. With blended vision, one eye is customized for clear focus at distance while the other eye is customized for clear focus on near vision. Precision monovision with the LAL allows patients to enjoy both distance and near vision without dependence on glasses or contacts after surgery.
The Clear Choice
The full range of lens implant options and the ability to maximize your outcome after surgery are what make Vance Thompson Vision your clear choice for cataract surgery. We’re dedicated to using the world’s most advanced technology in combination with our vast experience to help you see and enjoy life more clearly. To set up an appointment or to ask questions, please contact us today.