im almost 52, and been having to wear reading glasses for past cpl years. I tend to wear them all the time now, as use a computer and phone a fair bit. Without glasses near and intermediate txt is too blurry, and i think my distance vision is declining aswell. I have been in contact with praga medica, with a view to having lens replacement at a reasonable cost. They have offered me either panoptix trifocal or the vivity EFOF lenses. After some research i am totally confused as to my options, as i do drive often at night. This is a concern over trifocal with halos etc, and although the vivity reduces the halo effect, i may still need reading glasses, which is not an option, as i want to be glasses free any help or advice will be greatly appreciated
If you are planning a clear lens replacement (no cataract) with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL) I would highly recommend against it. Defer that procedure until you need to do it as the result of a cataract that is significantly impacting your vision. I would recommend against Lasik as well, as that will complicate the implantation of IOL's when you do get cataracts.
What Ron said. At age 52 you're not going to be glasses-free pretty much no matter what you do, but please do not undergo eye surgery, with its attendant risks, unless absolutely necessary.
I really don't think there are many if any on cataract forums that would recommend clear lens replacement (which is basically cataract surgery). not worth benefit versus risk. Reason why CLE is done on both eyes same day is so you cannot compare. There is a definite drop in contrast - I could see that after first surgery as the eye that still had cataract could see more contrast in dark situations. I was 53 at time of diagnosis - it was devastating.
My brother in law recently had CLE and when we visited him 2 months ago he didnt even know his natural lens was removed. He still wears glasses for some things to sharpen up images - something he did not want. however there are no guarantees you won't need glasses.
This surgery is usually a covered expense for cataracts so don't waste your money
yea i do understand the risks, but cant believe how much my eyesight has deteriated over last cpl years, and i really hate wearing glasses. Maybe ive made them worse by wearing my readers all the time, but with looking at phone and pc almost all the time, i had to kinda get use to wearing them. Im not sure about contacts as would probably irritate my eyes, as they mostly dry. I was hoping that iol would be the answer, and rid of these pesky things i have to wear all the time.
Wait. Use readers or progressives. All the multifocal and EDOF options right now suck compared to what will likely be available in 5 years or so (a true accommodating implant that can actually focus just like a natural human lens). We debate those options here because we have no choice. Most pre-op people here have no good vision at ANY distance. Today's implants are far better that what was available 5-10 years ago. It's amazing what they've been able to accomplish with a rigid piece of plastic. But ultimately it's still just a rigid piece of plastic. It can only do so much. The more range of focus they give you, the worse the overall image quality will be. There is no avoiding that trade off with today's technology. If the surgery is not 100% medically necessary I'd strongly recommend waiting. This is a destructive surgery that is essentially irreversible. Once it's done, it's done. You can't upgrade to better technology later on.
cant believe how much my eyesight has deteriated over last cpl years, and i really hate wearing glasses. Maybe ive made them worse by wearing my readers all the time
Nope. Using your readers didn't make your eyes worse. Being 52 made your eyes worse. It happens to everyone. 100% of people lose their ability to focus sometime after age 40. Nothing you do or didn't do would have any impact on that. It's just a normal part of aging.
I received trifocal IOLs (Zeiss AT Lisa) in both eyes one year ago - they are similiar to PanOptix and my advice is: If you don't have bad cataract in your eyes, stay away from these lenses and the surgery!
A piece of plastic - whatever it is called - will never work as good as your own lens. In fact you will have problems afterwards.
Unfortunately I had no access to this forum before the surgery and I wasn't told the truth by the surgeons about these IOLs. I'm now suffering from severe dysphotopsia which means large concentric rings and spider webs around point light sources. Night driving is a nightmare. It didn't decline within the last 12 months and it won't in the future. The farer away the object, for example a car, the bigger the circles. I can't see the object behind the rings, whether it's a car, a truck or a motor cycle. Glare even increased in the meantime. It hurts in my eyes and brain. I always have to wear a visor cap. Because of the glare I avoid using the highbeam headlights: There is too much glare from street signs. Brake lights from SUVs are now surrounded by up to 12 rings which increase the cars size up to double. Approaching cars or traffic lights are now looking like monsters. You are powerlessly submitted to this. Nothing can be done about it. I tried special glasses, lit up the drivers cabine, it didn't help. LED lights are causing the dysphotopsia as well. I can no longer enjoy Christmas and the beautiful lights but have to hide from them.
I got floaters as a result from the surgery. Again the visor cap helps to see less heaven, less white walls but it doesn't help during my work in front of the computer screen. In addition: They didn't hit the refractive target. I have significant residual astigmatism left in both eyes. I never wore glasses since my childhood but now have to wear them all the time. Varifocals or multifocal contacts are no longer possible with these lenses. These IOLs are not good for intense and demanding work in the intermediate range. I have to put readers in front of the far specs to manage it (computer work). There are gaps between near and intermediate. There is contrast loss. This although inhibits your driving ability. Be aware of this with the Vivity IOL as well. I know a man who got these lenses and now suffers a lot from it.
There a people who have less issues after IOL implantation. Maybe you are lucky, but maybe you are not. If I were you, I wouldn't gamble with my vision. And I wish I could go back to the woman I was before that surgery. Note: Explanting IOLs is a high risk procedure. I know what I'm talking about. There are top surgeons who told me about it and some of them even stay away because I'm rather young with high visual demands related to my work and 20/20 if corrected with glasses. 5-6 weeks after the surgery the capsular bag has shrinked completely. The artifical lens is much smaller than the natural lens therefore the bag shrinks. If you need a toric lens and if you have a higher degree of astigmatism combined with a higher degree of myopia, than you are facing a high risk of lens rotation. Just be aware of this.
I hope I have helped you in your decision. At least that you are able to make an informed one which I wasn't one year ago.
i get what you mean with regard to surgery, i guess it is a permanent op. I hate wearing glasses, and they dont suit me at all. Im also recently single, and not gonna land myself a new woman looking the way i am...lol. 5yrs there prob will be more advancements, but il be 57 then, we dont get any younger. I want to try enjoying life now, whilst i still can, had major back surgery, hips are on way out, eyesight is deteriorating
I have an ironic answer/suggestion...
Short version: Your natural lens is best. Avoid surgery if you can. Keep your natural lenses.
Long version: I have PanOptix in both eyes, and I'm very pleased with them. Some people have problems with glare and halos. I don't. Vivity promises a lot, but math and people will tell you that Vivity depth of field is shorter than PanOptix. From a practical standpoint, depending on your eye, Vivity will give you good distance vision, good intermediate vision, and acceptable close vision down to about 20 inches. But stuff WILL be out of focus at 14 inches. You'll still need readers. If you shift the correction to close vision, you'll get that extra 6 inches close, but you'll need glasses for anything beyond 1 meter (about 3-4 feet). So PanOptix is really the only option to fix the vision problems you experience, without using glasses or contacts.
If you get a good surgeon, then about 299 times out of 300 you'll be satisfied with the results. Unfortunately, about 0.33% of patients are unsatisfied and need a lens replacement (according to one leading cataract surgeon, Shannon Wong). That's a low percentage, but it still translates into tens of thousands of patients around the world who are dissatisfied.
Now here comes the ironic part... Individual people may be MORE satisfied with monofocal IOLs or EDOF, but sometimes they have problems, too. They're stuck needing glasses. Sometimes they get glare and halos and other visual phenomenon similar to PanOptix. There are no guarantees of success. Also, between 30% and 50% of IOL patients (depending on who you ask, sometimes it's 100%) develop a condition known as posterior capsular opacification (PCO). Eventually, you'll need an additional procedure called YAG to handle that.
So... getting an IOL is not a panacea, and I don't recommend it unless you have cataracts or some other condition that requires the procedure. I had severe myopia... and now my vision is PanOptix-near-perfect at 20/30 in both eyes (two weeks after surgery and hopefully still improving). BUT I would have kept my bad eyesight if cataracts had not been progressively dragging me toward blindness.
I would think about using contacts to give you monovision. Places like Costco are pretty good at giving you trial supplies of contacts and letting you try different powers to see what you like. I have one eye corrected for full distance with a monofocal IOL, and use a contact in my non operated eye to give me monovision. I under correct to leave me at -1.25 residual. That allows me to read a computer easily, my iPhone reasonably, and all but the smallest text - all without glasses. . I tested about 5 different brands of contacts and settled on the Costco Kirkland ones. They are CooperVision 1 day disposables and I find them really comfortable. And they are the least expensive of the choices. . The upside of trialing monovision with contacts is that you can try different amounts and see what you like. Then later on when you get cataracts you will know if doing monovision with monofocal IOLs is for you or not. They tend to be the best way to get a full range of vision with the least risk of optical side effects. And also the least expensive way to go.
ah this is sad news. So its either carry on looking like shit and relying on awful glasses or take a very huge risk. The whole IOL idea looked promising initially, and i was excited to rid myself of theses stupid glasses once and for all
a very gentle reminder... the right woman won't care if you wear glasses or not. i'm a single woman, older than you, but still... i'd be happy to find a sweet guy to share my life with, and i can promise you i wouldn't think twice about his looks. kindness, honesty, integrity, open-mindedness; those qualities are what matter and keep couples together.
agree those qualities are most important, but we judged on looks initially....id be a swipe right...lol
So to be clear… and maybe you're just joking or half-joking… and I'm trying not to judge but… you're worried about what you look like with glasses? . Anyway it's your choice of course. I hope you carefully your motivations and the advice you've received here. Best of luck with whatever you choose.
Dude... Guys like Bono, Ringo Starr, and Jim Peterik are famous for wearing glasses and looking hot.
There's a lot that goes into looks... and ya... you're judged by them (even tho good-hearted people sometimes claim otherwise)... but glasses are just a thing... like a jacket or shoes... the style in the piece either adds or detracts from your overall good looks.
If you want to try no glasses, then consider contacts... maybe contacts won't work with your dry eyes, but maybe they will. And the cost to find out will be near zero.
Or Google Bono, choose images, and start from there.
please dont think im being shallow to those that wear glasses. Its from my own personal point of view of myself Its bad enough that im 52yrs old, 5ft6" short, totally bald with a metal plate in my back just about walking, now im having to wear glasses, as now my dam eyesight failing. They make me feel older than i am, they are annoying to wear, and ive gone through a few pairs due to loss or breakage and thats only in less than a year I was really hoping IOL was the solution to this, and was willing to part with cash to do so (im seriously tight with money) If IOL is not worth it...i believe they trialing drops to help with presbyopia...fingers crossed they successful
If you go to a high-end eyeglass store, I'll bet they could find you a pair of glasses that would suit your face. And that would cost much less than having surgery. Also, anyone who wouldn't be interested in you because you're wearing glasses is not worth being with!
Hi Carl, I'm new here and am in similar shoes as you, although I'm several years older. A few years ago I got really tired of wearing glasses, they were good light ones, but they still bothered me - a lot. I started looking into lens replacement as well. When you start doing that you discover there are many choices in the lenses and many potential trade offs.
I decided the best thing for me was to try contacts to see how my brain works with accomodating. I've been wearing multifocal contacts now for the past few years...and contact wear beats the heck out of glasses for me. I do extended wear contacts, so if I fall asleep in them, non big deal...take them out clean them and pop'm back in. Eezy peezy.
Last visit to the optometrist: They said they can't improve my reading any longer as I'm already at a high add prescription...told me to put readers on. So...I've also just begun testing monovision. I'm going back and forth between the multifocals and monovision and I'm finding monovision to give me sharper, brighter vision...with good distance and reading.
All that is a long-winded way of saying that you don't have to settle for glasses if you don't like them. I started wearing contacts at ~58 and love them in comparison. You can also use that time to find what types of IOL lenses you might like when the time comes.
Agree with jettesun - women care more about character than looks. Don't go through an unnecessary surgery to rid yourself of glasses. There are lots of super cute frames today. Plus you may need them anyways as there is no guarantee with IOLs that you'd be completely glasses free. aside from healing process ending up a possible .25 D either way they also come in increments of .50 diopters vs .25 like glasses. Have you ever considered contacts vs glasses to give you that glasses free look you want?