Cataract
How to get your vision and your life back
What is cataract?
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens in your eye. It is a common and slow phenomenon that occurs as you age. The main symptoms are :
– A blurred vision that prevents you from seeing clearly
– A higher sensitivity to lights and bright environments
– A yellow tinge can appear and colours appear washed out
New glasses can sometimes help for a while but surgery is the only reliable option to restore your vision.
The Cataract surgery
The surgery is an outpatient procedure, performed under local anaesthetic. It will take around 20minutes. Your surgeon will remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a new implant called an intraocular lens (IOL). The type of lens you will receive will be decided in consultation with your surgeon from the various types available – a monofocal lens offers a single focus point and is good for distance vision, with glasses for reading, while a multifocal lens will provide several focus points for near and distance vision. With a multifocal lens, you may also be able to free of spectacles after the procedure. Both of these lens types are available in toric versions that can correct astigmatism.
Zoom on the different types of lenses
Monofocal lenses
This lens will enable an improved long-distance vision and is thus useful for activities such as driving or traveling. It is important to choose an aspherical lens as it will offer you better contrast sensitivity and improve your vision quality, especially in low-light settings. Unfortunately, you will still need glasses for short-distance vision such as reading or using your phone. If you have greater astigmatism you will need a toric lens.
Multifocal lens
This lens provides an improved vision at multiple range of distance, enabling you to see at long, mid and short distances thanks to different focusing powers. If you have astigmatism, a Toric multifocal lens is the best option to correct your vision and treat your cataract at the same time. This lens is more expensive than a Monofocal one but does not need to be paired with additional glasses, except maybe when reading very small content. If you consider a multifocal lens, special examinations are necessary to check that it is suitable for you.
More information about cataract and lenses?
Our partner and supplier Medicontur offers some informative brochures about cataract and lenses, to be found below!