One surprising “side effect” of cataract surgery is that in addition to removing your cataracts, it can improve your vision. Patients who have had to wear glasses their entire lives have reported that they have 20/20 vision after a cataract surgery. In addition to improving your vision, cataract surgery can also repair it. Here’s what you need to know about this procedure and its benefits.
Correct Vision Issues with a New Lens
Many patients have had trouble seeing for nearly their entire lives. Glasses and contact lenses are important tools in correcting vision, but can be annoying for some people to deal with on a daily basis. If your doctor has recommended cataract surgery, you may be surprised to hear that you can also have your vision corrected in the same procedure.
In addition to doing cataract removal, the eye doctor will also put in a new lens, which can help to improve your vision. By replacing the lens during cataract surgery, your eye doctor can not only remove cataracts but may also be able to improve vision issues, from hyperopia to myopia and even astigmatism.
How Cataract Surgery Repairs Vision
During the short and painless surgery, the eye doctor makes a tiny incision in the eye. Once the incision is made, they remove the cataract. Traditionally, after the cataract was removed, the procedure was finished, and after the operation, patients needed to wear thick glasses or contact lenses so they could see.
However, that changed in the late 1980s when the FDA approved replacement lenses for eye surgeries. Now, after removing the cataracts, the eye doctor puts in the replacement lens, and that often improves your vision. Following this procedure, patients are often relieved to find they do not need glasses or contacts at all.
Types of Replacement Lens for Cataract Surgery
When your doctor recommends that you get cataract removal and replacement lenses, there are a number of different lenses to choose from. There are special lenses designed for people with astigmatism. There are also multifocal lenses, and if you are struggling with both near and far distance seeing, those lenses may be best for you.
There are also multifocal lenses that are also designed to correct astigmatism. These are ideal for people who have had astigmatism for most of their lives but who have also started to struggle with presbyopia (difficulties seeing up close) in their later lives. These lenses help improve all of those issues. Finally, for people with relatively straightforward vision issues, there are also mono lenses which can be put in after cataract surgery.
If you have cataracts and you are worried about cataract surgery, it’s time to give us a call. We can talk with you about the huge advantages of this surgery. To learn more about our eye doctors, or to set up an appointment at our world class eye care clinic, please contact us online or call 772-257-8700 today.