Glass power for distance after surgery
Posted , 7 users are following.
Hi,
I am having cataract surgery soon and decided to have a IOL lens for near and is okay to wear glasses for far distance. I am using glasses for last 15 years for distance and my glass power range between -1.25 to -1.5. I was wondering after my surgery will my distance power change so much that I need to wear very thick glasses?
0 likes, 7 replies
ad12345 rn2
Edited
Being honest, I don't see the point to target near vision. I mean, it's great to see close-up, but then when you look elsewhere you always need to put glasses on. Isn't it more wise to put glasses for reading? When it comes to your question, I think that thickness depends on the price of your glasses only.
rn2 ad12345
Posted
Well, I work in IT and normally infront of Computers or cell phone 12-13 hrs a day. And as I always been nearsighted and wore glass for distance I don't mind keep doing this anyway. It only just came to my mind whether my glass for distance will be too thick which will look weird 😛
scott10751 ad12345
Edited
I think this is entirely a matter of perspective. As a lifelong myope, also in IT at my desk 12 hours or more a day I could just rephrase your sentence: I don't see the point to target far vision. It would be great to drive and watch tv without glasses, but I would then need to wear glasses all day at my desk, possibly when eating, prepared food, etc. Targeting far I would have to wear glasses 75% of the day and not wear them only 25%, if that.
I say that still tempted to target far as the envista I'm going with has a high percentage of good intermediate vision, which if it covered working at my desk would be a no brainer. But I see nothing wrong with someone targeting whatever range they think they spend the majority of their time in, as that's when you really don't want to wear glasses. If I had a job that was primarily distance vision, driving for example, I'd want distance for sure.
Guest scott10751
Edited
The issue to me isn't wearing glasses. I don't mind wearing glasses. To me the issue is having to switch glasses on and off. I think about this in 3 ways:
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My hope is to have good enough close vision to mostly be able to function without glasses for scenario 1 (quick little glances in day to day living). For scenario 3 when I'm focused at one distance for a long time I'm more than happy to wear readers. For scenario 2 (doing errands or out running), maybe I wear bifocals or progressives.
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Maybe I'm overthinking it but my main point is, it's not about wearing glasses to me, it's about the frequent switching of focus distances in day to day living. With that in mind I think most people are better off with a slight under correction for distance than correcting for close up. With that you'd have good usable vision from probably 3 feet to infinity even with a monofocal. You need glasses for computer but that's OK because you're just in that one "mode" for a long time, so you don't have the annoyance of having to constantly put glasses on, off, on, off. And if you're leaving the house for shopping or running or something maybe you throw on some bifocal glasses. I'm thinking Eyhance so maybe closer vision is not great but good enough for the quick glances.
Bookwoman Guest
Posted
Having been quite myopic my whole life, I opted to have near-distance monofocal lenses implanted and have wound up with mini-monovision; I couldn't be happier. I spend most of my day either reading or in front of a computer, and can move about my house and do just about everything without glasses. I put them on to watch TV in the evenings, and to drive.
I don't mind wearing glasses at all, but I find I just don't need them for 80% of my life, including the computer (I have a desktop with a large monitor). And there's not a whole lot of switching: on when I leave the house (which is not often these days!), off when I get home, then on for a couple of hours of Netflix in the evening. Your mileage may, of course, vary.
scott10751 rn2
Edited
If you are having them target your existing prescription, in a normal eye with one of the new formulas there is an 85% or better chance they will be within a half a diopter of the target. If you are that close to your existing prescription, the thickness of your glasses would change very little. There are also options for high index lenses which with that mild of a prescription you probably aren't using that would make the lenses even thinner and lighter.
RonAKA rn2
Edited
I have had progressive eyeglasses for many years. The standard add for the reading part of the lens is +2.5 D. If you have IOLs put in for near I would expect they would be correcting to about the same. That means for distance you would need -2.5 D lenses. That is not very much correction and not thick. High index lenses are available but most do not feel they are helpful until you get up into the -4 to -5 range or higher.
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How well do you see your computer screen with no glasses now? One option to consider assuming you are doing both eyes for a cataract is to have them do the dominant eye for distance first. What you may find is that with that one eye for distance and the other eye at -1.25 to -1.5 you may see just fine (other than for the cataract issues) for all distances. I currently have one eye done with an IOL for distance and my other eye needs about -2 for correction. I use a contact at -0.75 to give me about a -1.25 under correction. I find it to be just fine for computer work and most reading except for the very fine print. Most days I do not even put on a pair of glasses. I do have a pair of progressives that I can use for the best vision, but find I almost never wear them. When it comes time to do my second eye, I'm quite sure that is what I will do, just get it under corrected to about -1.25 D. This approach is called mini monovision. It uses standard monofocal lenses to give you a glasses free experience.
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The advantage of not needing progressives to see the computer screen is that you do not have tip your head up to see the top of the screen. It is much more natural feeling to be able to look anywhere on the screen and be able to see without moving your head. I never really noticed that until I stopped using my progressives for computer time.