A Guide to Cataract Surgery Lenses
What Are Cataract Surgery Lenses?
To fix cataracts, eye doctors have to remove the natural lens of your eyes and replace it with an artificial one, called an intraocular lens (IOL). An IOL can be made from silicone, acrylic, or other types of plastic. These lenses provide clear vision and are often coated in a special material to protect you from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
There are a variety of IOLs available for cataract surgery. Some are designed to provide vision at different distances, while others help fix vision problems like astigmatism. The best option for one patient may not be the best for another, so it’s essential to consider your options carefully.
Types of Cataract Surgery Lenses
Understanding the different types of intraocular lenses available for cataract surgery will help you choose the right ones. Discussing your lens options with your care counselor and surgeon before surgery is important to ensure you get the lens most suited to your needs.
Light Adjustable Lens
Light-adjustable lenses are a newer type of monofocal lens and currently the only adjustable lens on the market. After your eyes have healed from cataract surgery, your ophthalmologist will use UV light treatment procedures to adjust the corrective power of your lenses. It can also adjust for astigmatism. The LAL lens can be adjusted multiple times AFTER your surgery or until your prescription is right for you.
These lenses allow for both near and far vision without glasses. They provide the highest degree of precision possible, as they’re tailored to your specific needs. However, they do require several in-office visits to get the lens to the desired prescription.
Multifocal, Trifocal, and Extended Focus Lenses (EDOF) IOLs
Multifocal, trifocal, and extended focus options are designed to give you clearer vision at more than one distance, helping you enjoy daily activities like reading, working on a computer, and driving — often without glasses. These lenses work much like built-in glasses, providing focusing power your natural lens no longer can. Multifocal and trifocal lenses create distinct zones for near, intermediate, and distance vision. Extended focus lenses offer a smooth range of vision, especially from intermediate to far.
Barnet Dulaney Perkins is proud to provide a solution for patients with presbyopia with the recent FDA approval of Alcon’s Acrysof IQ PanOptix Trifocal IOL. With this advanced technology, the trifocal lens will allow cataract and refractive lens exchange patients to correct for immediate, near, and distance vision. Prior to this advanced lens, all multifocal lenses in the United States only corrected vision at two distances
Toric Lenses
Toric lenses are for those with astigmatism, a condition in which the eye is not evenly round, leading to blurred vision. Toric lenses improve how the light hits your retina. You may need glasses for near and intermediate vision. This enhances the quality of your vision and reduces things like glare and halos. This lens does not correct for presbyopia or the ability to read without glasses, so reading glasses will still be needed.
Monofocal Lenses
Monofocal lenses provide exceptional clarity for distance vision. These lenses can be set for clear viewing at either close range, medium range, or distance vision, but NOT all three. The main downside to monofocal lenses is that they can only be set to clear viewing at a single distance. If you have astigmatism, you will likely need glasses at all distances. Monofocal lenses are covered by insurance.
How to Choose the Right Lens for Cataract Surgery
Affordability
Monofocal lenses are usually covered by insurance. Multifocal, EDOF, toric, and light-adjustable lenses are often considered premium and, as a result, aren’t always covered by insurance. These can be thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Lifestyle
If you typically spend your time doing either near or distance tasks, or you don’t mind wearing glasses, monofocal lenses can be a good option. But if glasses are inconvenient to you or you frequently switch between near and distance viewing, you may want to consider a presbyopia-correcting option.
Night Driving
Presbyopia-correcting lenses, especially multifocal or EDOF lenses, are more likely to cause halos and rings around lights. If you drive a lot at night, it’s a good idea to avoid these types of lenses.
Astigmatism
If you don’t have astigmatism or a very mild form, paying extra for toric lenses may not be worth it. However, those with moderate to high astigmatism may benefit significantly from these lenses.
Other Eye Conditions
Multifocal and EDOF lenses are not a good option for those with certain eye conditions, such as glaucoma or macular degeneration. These lenses reduce the amount of light to the eye, which can make vision worse.
If you’re still not sure which option is right for you, the experts at Barnet Dulaney Perkins can help. We use a state-of-the-art device, called an Optiwave Refractive Analyzer (ORA), to get real-time, highly accurate measurements during surgery and determine which lens option will offer you the best possible vision.