Choosing between a monofocal IOL vs Symfony IOL
Posted , 14 users are following.
Hello everybody I'm writing this because I am a 26 year old guy getting ready to get my cataract surgery in my left eye due to an accident that made me rapidly develop bad vision and require surgery in order to see clearly again out of that eye. (Although I have small cataracts in right eye as well) I have been waiting and waiting for a couple of years because at first, I wasn't comfortable getting a monofocal IOL which the opthamologist has been reccomending for me for quite some time; Because I had hopes of newer technology becoming available in the near term. I was eager about the Symfony when it was first announced it would be available here in the USA and after reading the specs I was determined to get this IOL implanted in my eye. on paper these lens seemed like the best lens possible that was available here in the USA but however it doesn't seem like many people are satisfied about some of the adverse effects that these Symfony lens are starting to becoming more and more frequent among people that get these implanted. My main worry about the IOL lens is that they have a risk of troublesome halo's, starbursts, and glares associated around bright lights. I am a young adult so I can fathom having to struggle with that issue for the rest of my life.
My main focus and passion that I want to do for my career will require me to be working on computers most of the time since I want to pursue a 3D animation and graphics engineering career in the entertainment industry. I love the idea of having the Symfony lens because it would be really convenient to work in that setting and atmosphere not requiring multiple types of glasses to see on the fly at screens and monitors and distance. Etc and I certainly would not mind using reading glasses for the near. but Im a bit Disappointed to see numerous reports of people complaining about the night time visuals in regards to bright lights. I feel like this would be something that would seriously make me question if it is truly worth having seamless distance/intermediate vision but not being able to handle going out at night from headlights/city lights/ bright. I'm only 26 years old and I know That I can not NOT avoid going out at night. Especially if I had to go to big cities like Los Angeles New York etc. what if I want to go to a night time festival with lots of LED lights or light projections? (Not that Thats all i do but if having Symfony lens makes those experiences unpleasant?) is it worth it? I honestly feel like if some of those issues were a problem for so many people would also apply to watching a cinema in the movies or viewing some types of hi resolution Video animations in dark environments would recreate that dramatic effect of bright light sensations like halos, glare that it makes that viewing unpleasant for their experience... most of the people say their fine for tv's and computers but what about dark scenes or when light is highly concentrated and dispersed might make somebody with Symfony dizzy? Would a monofocal IOL be safer just to avoid adverse reactions and sensations to extreme lights?
For people here that been implanted with the Symfony IOL vs a monofocal IOL do monofocal really have less glare and halos.
Also Monofocal IOL implants how are you doing with night vision? And also how is your computer time like quality of vision and light sensations etc. I see that a lot of people are satisfied with the Symfony for computer usuage because it offers more range towards intermediate but I honestly might consider trade off for monofocal and wearing those glasses to avoid those light artifacts associated with the Symfony.
Whenever I research articles on review/reports on the internet about the Symfony IOL their is a lot of contradicting information that makes choosing that lens extremely difficult for me...
I honestly don't know which studies to believe because I've read several and most of them say something different about the Symfony IOL. The one from medscape says that the nighttime problems are actually worst than multifocals and the case study from healio points out to it being comparable to a monofocal.... most people that post about the Symfony say their is a significant amount of glare/halos. And Not to mention that their is under the radar trait in Symfony that so many people are having several concentric circles around bright lights!! I can not deal with that if I were to pursue a computer graphics career. Although it may not be a make or break factor...
I know it's hard to compare subjectively. Anybody here with both a Symfony IOL and a monofocal IOL in the other eye?; that would probably be the best annodoctal experience to have. I have to make my decision soon in about a month. I really am having such a difficult decision to choose which IOL because this is likely going to be a permanent choice for the rest of my life and I'm still relatively young at 26. I know people talk about getting a new IOL lens swapped for their current IOL in the future but I would imagine this brings along repercussions because there are major risks involved with doing extra surgeries after your lens has healed into your eye. Vision may become worse afterwards despite switching lens for supposedly better tech. What I'm trying to say is the choice I make for my cataract surgery of IOL lens is most likely going to be a permanent decision for the rest of my entire life. I will have to think this over again but Thank you for taking the time if you read all of this.
0 likes, 33 replies
jantje32476 miguel20862
Posted
Hi miguel20862,
I had monofocal IOL cataract implants. The eye surgeon decided on the choice of my lenses, as I had one bad eye (low vision). As the mantra goes "doctor knows best". I do need my glasses for long distance vision which I rarely use, since I can read and do all sorts of activities quite comfortable without glasses on.
However, my hubby had Symphony lenses implanted on both eyes in 2016. He could see clearly right after his cataract operations, and his vision gets even better by the months. Sight! I am kind of jealous of his multifocal IOLs.
It seems that there is a new product better than the Symphony lens available in the market now. I do not have the details
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