I am a 55 year old man who has cataract in one eye only. I have never needed any glasses for distance and only started wearing reading glasses about five years ago.
I understand that after the surgery my sight will be blurry for near to mid range, depending on the IOL I choose. But I don’t understand what blurry means. Does it mean that I will not be able to see much at all from near to mid range and my vision will be like cataract (cloudy) or something similar with limited general vision? or does blurry vision means that it will be just out of focus (like being farsighted) where I can see my surroundings fine but need glasses for reading and to do detailed work?
My doctor is pushing me to get Vivity IOL and I am leaning towards a Monofocal (cost is not an issue) but my final decision will depend on understanding what blurry means.
Since I am only getting one eye done and my other eye requires reading glasses anyway, I am assuming that I will still be dependent on glasses for reading after the surgery. In this case I will go with monofocal for the clearest vision. But if I will be very limited by what I can see overall in near distances (not just reading) then I will get Vivity.
With a monofocal set for distance, your closer vision is not cloudy like a cataract, it is simply getting more and more out of focus as the distance decreases. Where vision goes from good to not so good varies from person to person. But, with a monofocal set for distance good vision will start to suffer when you get closer than 2-3 feet. I will post another reply with a graph that shows visual acuity vs distance. It will be moderated, so check back tomorrow for it.
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I think you have a few options to consider. The issue with the Vivity is that it can result in halos around objects like headlights at night. Some are ok with that, and others are not. It also has reduced contrast sensitivity at night. One way to reduce that would be to only use the Vivity in one eye, and a monofocal set for distance. And, a Vivity alone set for distance probably will not give you good reading vision. It has to be offset by about 1.0 D to give good reading vision.
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The other option for a full range of vision is to set the dominant eye for distance with a monofocal, and the non dominant at -1.5 D for closer vision. And the other two options are to set both eyes for distance with a monofocal and uses reading glasses for close. Or, you could set both eyes for a closer distance and use prescription glasses for distance.
Here is the graph which shows Snellen visual acuity vs distance for a monofocal set for distance - the dashed line. Notice that there is a gradual drop off in vision. The other lines show the range when the lens is set for various amount of myopia.
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For all practical purposes it just means you won’t be able to read up close. You can still see and tell what objects are you’ll just struggle to read. So if a dashboard is an example, you’ll have no problem seeing a knob for fan speed, and another for temperature, but you might not be able to clearly read their labelling. If money is an issue you may want to consider Eyhance. It is technically classed as a monofocal so depending on where you live it may be available through public health (although you may have to pay a relatively small fee). Eyhance should give you intermediate vision (dashboard and maybe computer) but not up close reading vision (nutrition labels, iphone).
To me blurry is out of focus. You can simulate that with say, putting on reading glasses and then going for a walk and looking into the distance or anything else you can look through and have out of focus.
Cloudy would be the way you see through very dirty glass or after putting ointment in your eye.