Hi All,
I'm still in the decision stage on my left affected eye and I am wondering if some of you out there who've had monofocal lenses implanted could share your experiences with them? I'm looking to find out if there's any degree of intermediate and even reading distance vision you may have achieved with them and how you find them generally. Were you surprised after surgery how good your vision was? Did you have a less than expected experience? My father had both eyes done with monofocal lenses and he seems pretty happy with them and says he doesn't need glasses most of the time. He said he can even do crossword puzzles without glasses. Would love to hear your stories. Thanks.
G
I had Toric monofocal lens implants done in both eyes in June 2017
I am extremely happy with my vision as I had worn glasses since the age of 6
I do need reading glasses for very small print . My reading glasses are only +1.00
Are you in the UK
Hi Shrimpie, I'm happy to hear you're happy. Yes, I'm in the UK. Did you get yours done on the NHS? If not, may I ask who you used? Thx.
G
Corrective vision surgery is not avail on the NHS. I had mine done at A Soute Hospital .
I do believe you can get monofocal lenses on the NHS if you're approved by your GP. They don't cover premium lenses like multifocals though.
G
Cataract surgery is available on the nhs but not vision correction .
I love them and almost never need glasses. After my first eye was done, I had a very difficult time with any near vision while intermediate and distance were fine. My doctor set the second eye in 1/2 diopter from distance for a mini-monovision to get a better all around range of vision. I did not want full mono vision for several reasons and most can't tolerate it anyways. Both eyes working together now see very well at all distances. I did have to learn to start holding print further out from my face (about 16 inches) rather than prior to surgery where I would read things within 5 inches away which is what I was used to (very nearsighted at the time).
oh okay, so what does that mean? I guess I thought that getting a lens was in fact correction of some kind? I'm a bit confused. Are you saying the NHS doesn't correct for astigmatism?
G
ThE NHS only cover standard monofocal lense when Surgery is done for cataracts . The nhs will not do cataract surgery until the cataract is quite mature . NHS surgery does not cover astigmatism correction . If you want vision & astigmatism correction then this has to be paid for privately . I have BUPA medical insurance through my work . I had already decided to pay for the surgery myself as my work medical cover would pay for it as it is chases as cosmetic surgery . I was fortunate than when I saw the consultant to finalise the surgery details he noticed I had early stage cataracts . As cataract & vision correction are done by the sane procedure Bupa paid for the cataract surgery & paid the additional fee to upgrade my lenses to correct my vision & astigmatism. Where in the uk are you .
I'm in sw London. The cataract in my left eye is sufficiently bad that my doctor referred me to the NHS for a consultation. I'm not sure I'll go with them though as I've also looked into a couple of private surgeons as well and I feel that maybe I can get more specialised care with them. My right eye (not affected by cataract) is okay for reading but not very good for distance. I would like to see if the mono-vision strategy might work by setting my left to distance.
G
Before you make a decision on mono vision the surgeon can give you a trial with contact lenses . One lens for distance one lens for reading. I couldn’t have mono vision as I have a muscle convergence in my eyes . I am in Scotland . My surgery was carried out by Laser Vision Scotland. Excellent care & service .
Well, I think the problem with me is that my cataract eye (the left one) is already too far gone to get any benefit of a contact lens test in that eye. Now, I could experiment with a contact lens in my right eye AFTER I get back the distance vision in my left (via a mono-focal lens)...THAT would be possible. Then again, because I already have pretty good near vision in my right eye, I may get the mono vision effect even without a contact lens. I hope that makes sense.
How nearsighted is your right eye what is the eyeglasses Rx?
If its more negative than -2.0D in the right eye, that would probably too much difference if the left eye was corrected for good distance vision (near 0.0D) since they try to keep the difference between the two eyes to within 2.0D for monovision.
I had Tecnis monofocals (torics) implanted on 26 Jan and 9 Feb this year. I currently have monovision of 0 in left eye and -2.25 in right eye - not expecting it to change much.
Distance is amazing and I barely notice the monovision blur from the right eye although it's more noticeable in low light situations (dusk/dawn). I don't have any night time issues with distance - vision is amazingly clear at night - I suspect I could get away with driving at night without glasses (although I don't drive at the moment because I live in Singapore and can't afford (and don't need) a car!).
Intermediate I need computer glasses - I can actually see my computer but it's blurred and I think I'd get a headache if I didn't use computer glasses (this was my compromise so I'm okay with it).
Close up I'm still struggling with a bit - I can read on my phone from about 30cm away but I do notice the blur from the left eye and it's worse in low light (don't want to turn the phone/iPad up bright at night because then I get the blue light problems that reportedly negatively impact on sleep). This will take time - it is already getting noticeably better though so I'm confident that I will adjust over the next few months.
Hope that helps!
Hi Night-Hawk, Well, as it turns out, I'm just at 2.0 diopters if the left eye is set to 0.0D. Here are the scan results:
Right: -2.00 Cyl: -0.75 Axis: 105
Left: -2.25 Cyl: -1.25 Axis: 54
CaroZim, Your reply is indeed helpful. Your surgery was quite recent and maybe things will even get better for you as your brain adjusts. Are you happy overall with the outcome overall? It seems like your situation is very similar to mine. I'd like to get distance fixed in the left eye and maintain my right reading eye and hopefully get a reasonable outcome. I wouldn't mind wearing glasses occasionally for reading I think.. that's really my objective. Ugh...so hard to make a decision!
G
I had monofocals implanted in both eyes one week apart in late January 2018.- toric in LE and non-toric in RE. LE surgery went very well and ended up with excellent distance vision (20/20) and no myopia or astigmatism post-op. RE was targeted for -1.50 diopters (mini monovision or blended vision as you please) to give me good near vision. Achieved result came very close to target. I have clear vision at distance (TV, driving) and near (reading) but the intermediate has been compromised. I can get by for short spells on the computer but will likely need some correction (eyeglasses) for long-term work sessions. On Feb 28 I am scheduled for my 1+ month postop exam and will see where things have landed. And no severe night-time issues. Overall quite satisfied with my results.
Yes you are right on the edge there for monovision with -2.00D in the right eye. The little astigmatism in the right eye effectively makes it closer to -2.3D or so, so it might be difficult to use with the left eye set for 0D - might work better if the left eye target is set slightly nearsighted for good intermediate (2feet) vision maybe -0.5D to -0.75D
Ah.. interesting.. So just curious...How do you arrive at the -2.3D? I'm a bit thick when it comes to these measurements and what they mean Are you taking into account the Cyl or Axis measure somehow? Thx.
G
Yes I am happy with what I've got although it was a tough decision deciding which option to go for. I nearly went with close and intermediate with far being the compromise because at this moment in my life I do a lot of work on the computer. Wearing computer glasses most of the day at work is a bit of a pain - I won't lie! Should be better once I get progressives and can see everything properly with just one pair - I won't have to keep taking them off to see distance.
However, I hope to go home (Zimbabwe) in about 3 years time and set up my own business. Once I stop my current job as a secondary teacher I hopefully won't spend nearly as much time on the computer as I currently do and so in the end I went with distance and close. I considered the implications of not being able to see clearly into the distance and decided that in the future I would need distance and close up more than intermediate.
It's not an easy decision to make so you really need to get it right!