Why Do I Need Glasses After Cataract Surgery? Many people are surprised they still need glasses after cataract surgery. After all, it’s surgery on the eyes, shouldn’t it fix vision? Well, the difference is in the two different issues of cataracts and vision focusing problems.
Cataract surgery is replacing an ineffective lens. The lens has gotten cloudy over time and is affecting your vision by making your overall vision cloudy, not just far or close. Vision problems, on the other hand, are caused by refraction problems and characterized as everything being fuzzy. Some of the vision problems later in life are a result of the muscles in the eye weakening and not being able to focus. This is essentially farsightedness and when most people start to depend on reading glasses.
Regardless of the type of blurry vision problems you have, there are some options that can be combined with your cataract surgery.
- Intraocular Lenses. A new lens is always needed to be implanted during your cataract surgery. Remember, part of cataract surgery is taking out the cloudy, ineffective lens. A new lens needs to naturally go in its place so a lens that also can correct vision is a perfect replacement. ReSTOR, the most popular, is a multifocal lens that allows focusing on far and near objects.
- Monovision. One eye can be set up for distance, the other for close vision. The downside is that you might lose vision at the middle distance between far and near, and the possible loss of depth perception.
- Accommodating lenses. A type of intraocular lens, this lens is also inserted during cataract surgery but “floats” so the eye can still adjust to correct vision. However, this will depend on the existing strength of the eye muscles.
Not all of these options are available for all patients and perhaps patients don’t feel they are the right choice for them. Many patients find that they might still require reading glasses after surgery but are still extremely glad they went through cataract surgery for the benefit of clear vision.
One of the many benefits of going to the SightTrust Eye Institute is the experience of Dr. Shatz in helping you decide with cataract surgery is right for you. Not only has Dr. Shatz completed many cataract surgeries but is also a leader and lecturer in the most advanced techniques and lenses. We welcome patients in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Palm Beach, Parkland and Plantation to visit the SightTrust Eye Institute to learn about their options for cataract surgery and what can be done to help fix their vision issues.
