For Jan, cataract surgery and trifocal lens implants meant saying goodbye to glasses, contacts and readers. What if you could too?
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Over time, Jan’s cataracts started getting in the way of her busy life, and she started to need readers on top of glasses and contacts. That’s where she drew the line and decided to get cataract surgery and trifocal implant lenses. Jan knew it would improve her vision, but she didn’t realize just how bad it had gotten—she thought her eyes were just failing as she aged. Now her vision is the best it’s ever been—no glasses, contacts or readers necessary. Read Jan’s full story.
You don’t have to live with blurry cataracts. Get in touch today to see if you can get your vision back and better than before with cataract surgery and multifocal implant lenses.
Watch a UCHealth ophthalmologist answer common questions about cataract surgery and multifocal implant lenses.
Schedule a consultation today to see what’s possible for you.
Could intraocular lenses (IOLs) let you say goodbye to glasses and contacts?
The most important decision to make with cataract surgery is whether an IOL can help get your vision back and better than ever before. UCHealth offers the most extensive and advanced solutions on the market today, and our highly trained, best-in-class eye care providers will customize a treatment plan based on what you decide is right for you.
For Jan, that included trifocal implant lenses with her cataract surgery so she could live without glasses, contacts or readers. Schedule a consultation to decide what’s possible for your vision.
Other types of IOLs include:
Monofocal IOL
This type of artificial lens is very common. It provides for good distance vision, making it convenient for activities like driving. However, if you do get monofocal IOLs, you may be dependent on reading glasses to see things up close.
Multifocal IOL
This type of IOL is designed to give you clear vision at all distances. This means that you are less likely to depend on glasses for a variety of daily activities. However, multifocal IOLs provide less clarity when it comes to distance vision and night vision, which can be problematic for certain occupations.
Accommodating IOL
Unlike monofocal or multifocal IOLs, which remain in a fixed position, accommodating IOLs are able to shift and adjust to objects at varying distances. This means you can be reading-glasses free without compromising on distance vision.
Toric IOL
A toric lens is a type of IOL designed to treat cataracts and astigmatism. Astigmatism is an eye condition in which your eye is not completely round, affecting the way light enters your eye and your eye’s ability to focus.
Talk to your eye doctor about what type of IOL is best for you. Your doctor may recommend a different IOL for each eye, depending on your vision needs. It is also important to keep cost in mind; your insurance may not cover more specialized IOLs, such as toric and accommodating IOLs. Our eye care professionals will help you make the best choice for you.
The lens of your eye is responsible for focusing incoming light before it strikes the retina, the light-sensitive part of your eye, to produce an image.
This lens can become cloudy and hard, a condition known as a cataract. Cataracts can develop from normal aging, from an eye injury or if you have taken medications known as steroids.
Cataract symptoms
Cataracts cause a range of vision problems, and if they are interfering with your daily life, they need to be removed through surgery.
- Cloudy or blurry vision and distortion of vision in either eye including ghost images.
- Lights are too bright and/or give off a glare or a halo.
- Poor night vision.
- Colors seem faded.
- Increasing nearsightedness that affects eyeglass prescriptions.
Cataracts tend to grow slowly. An early cataract may only affect a small portion of your lens, and you may not notice a change in your vision. With time, however, the cataract will cloud more of your lens and lead to progressive vision loss.
Types of cataracts
- If you were born with them or they developed in early childhood, you have congenital cataracts.
- If your reading vision has gotten worse and it’s hard to see in brightly lit places, you might have posterior subcapsular cataracts.
- If you have blurred vision that causes you to see blurry lines and reduced night vision, you might have cortical cataracts.
- If you have had increasing nearsightedness as you age and difficulty distinguishing between colors, you might have nuclear cataracts.
Getting a regular eye exam is important for your eye health generally, but they are especially important for addressing vision changes related to cataract development.
Because cataract symptoms may look like other eye conditions, you should meet with one of our eye care doctors as soon as you experience vision problems. If we determine you do have a cataract, surgery may be the best option to help restore your vision.
Overview
Cataract surgery is a safe and regularly performed surgery. Our ophthalmologists are experts at cataract surgery, and we’ll personalize your treatment for your unique needs. To correct your vision, one of our eye surgeons will remove your affected lens and replace it with an artificial lens called an intraocular lens (IOL). There are different types of IOLs to meet different visual needs (read on to learn more). The IOL will remain in your eye permanently, providing you with clear vision.
Before surgery
If you wear contact lenses, you will need to stop wearing them for a minimum of 2–3 weeks before your surgery. A week before your surgery, you will have a preoperative eye exam to help determine what IOL is best for you. You may be instructed to stop eating and drinking 12 hours before your surgery. If you take any prescription medications, you should talk with your doctor beforehand to avoid any complications.
After surgery
Cataract surgery is an outpatient surgery, so you’ll be able to go home the same day. However, you will not be able to drive right after your surgery, so you should arrange for someone to pick you up afterwards.
Patients will be prescribed antibiotic eye drops to use for a few weeks following surgery. Those who prefer not to have to use drops can opt for a Dextenza steroid insert as part of their surgery.
You should be able to return to doing the things you love in two to three days!
It’s important to understand that because you had a cataract, you will eventually develop presbyopia, a condition where your eye loses its ability to shift from distance to near vision. Presbyopia is the reason that reading glasses become necessary, typically after age 40, even for people who had excellent distance and near vision without glasses. You will need bifocals or separate (different prescription) reading glasses to see clearly at close range.