Top Choices by Patients for Intraocular Lenses and Cataract Surgery

1. The standard Monofocal Lens, both eyes for distance focus.

   This is very common! Medical insurance coverage typically covers the cost for this standard lens. Many patients are ‘nearsighted’ or ‘very farsighted’ and the standard IOL will improve the distance uncorrected focus for many patients. I like this choice because of reduced fall risk for patients as years pass by and safety is a greater concern. Cataract surgery has many health and safety benefits, including a significant safety factor for falls, evidence of slowing cognitive decline, and improved health and sociability.
   
   

2. The standard Monofocal Lens, both eyes for near focus.

   Want to keep your near vision? No problem! Many patients love to sew and crochet, and prefer to keep near focus without glasses, and use spectacles for distance activities like television. It’s your choice!
   
   

3. The standard Monofocal Lens, with Monovision: one eye for distance, one eye set for mid-range or near focus.

   Contact Lens wearers have been doing this since their 45th birthday! It’s a great choice! Once you are accustomed to having a distance eye and a near eye, many patients never go back to reading glasses. But - do a trial in contact lenses first so your surgeon knows you have tried monovision, improving your chance of satisfaction to 99% rate after surgery for monovision patients.
   
   

4. Options 1, 2, and 3 above using Laser Cataract Surgery or a Toric Lens for corrections of Astigmatism.

   This is a premium option with some increased cost, but often worth the investment to sharpen focus for astigmatism and improve the uncorrected vision a bit more.
   
   

5. Multifocal Lens Implants.

   Far and away most common for me now is the Panoptix multifocal lens implant by Alcon. The cost is more, but for 85% of patients, glasses are no longer needed for distance or near focus activities. Multifocal lenses in our practice are treated with astigmatism correction at the same time, by using a Toric Multifocal and the femto laser-assisted cataract surgery, the uncorrected visual focus is optimized as much as possible for visual performance.
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6. The Light Adjustable Lens (LAL).

   This implant provides the ability to adjust the focus after surgery using a UV light emitted by the Light Delivery Device (LDD). Explain, when the patient has surgery it’s not always sharply focused. By measuring the defocus after surgery, and then “tuning up” the focus of vision, the percentage of patients not needing glasses for distance is improved. 98.7% of patients are 20/32 or better after surgery! The process of “tuning up” takes several weeks and patients are required to wear UV-blocking glassses to the protect the UV sensitive lens implant. After 2 lock-in treatments about 3 weeks after surgery, the UV-blocking glasses are no longer needed. The exciting opportunity here is for those patients who truly value a LASIK-like outcome of sharp visual focus after surgery. Our ability to deliver refined focus is now improved with this premium technology

Author: Dr. David Woods is a cataract surgeon in Chico California, serving cataract surgery patients all over northern California.

Trust the doctors that other health professionals trust, visit Reeve Woods Eye Center today for a Cataract Surgery consultation. Call (530) 317-3937 or schedule online!