Monofocal IOL for NEAR: How far can you see?

For those who chose NEAR IOL what is the power of the glasses you use for distance -#.##??

I don't think too many people who post on here regularly chose monofocal IOLs for near distance.

soks, you asked about my vision with distance glasses on (now that I definitely have lost accommodation in that eye, which is probably what you were wondering about).  Just got new glasses that correct both eyes to 20/20.  Far distance (street signs etc.) is noticeably sharper, though really not a big 'wow' overall, now that my better eye is only -1.0D.  Some middle distances are marginally sharper, but not worth wearing them.  From 2 feet and closer it's significantly poorer.  Have to keep removing them to write this post on my 12" laptop as it is annoyingly blurry (didn't expect that).  Makeup application looks not too bad actually, but better with a X5 magnifying mirror. Newspaper fine print is mostly illegible at arm's length.  iPhone somewhat blurry but legible at full arm's length -- readable in a pinch, but not great (vs. crystal clear w/ -1.0D). So if my experiment is any indication, I would not likely have the near vision that nina234 has if I had 0D IOLs in both eyes.  It would basically wipe out most of the near vision I use a good deal of the time.  Kinda wondering if I needed to spend the $$ on these as I may not use them much, but guess I need at least 1 pair for best driving vision, especially at night. Did not go for progressives due to limited use, and since it's pretty easy to take them off.  So, with monofocal IOLs set to 20/20  it looks like I'd have to use readers way more often than I am needing the distance glasses right now.  With current -1.0/-1.5 combo I'm using distance correction occasionally and readers almost never so far (3 wks post-op).  Hope this info. is what you were seeking. (BTW, both eyes had similar results with this, so I must have already lost most or all accommodation).

I wonder if you got an eyeglasses frame for your distance vision with a smaller frame height and best with the semi-rimless type, you may be see below the lenses enough for reading without taking them off.

Not a bad idea!  I can sort of do that but have to push them up a little.

Wow - you can read the fine print on an eyedrop bottle with only the -1D right eye which has a monofocal IOL?

Thats incredible - how far away are you reading it OK, 24" or so?

My arms are pretty long so I can hold something to read to almost 30" away from the eyes.

Night-Hawk -- Testing it out here again ... I swear it was much better this morning in bright daylight (ha ha) it's very late and my eyes are tired but here goes in so-so lighting (Left eye closed; Right @ 24" straining; Front of bottle: "PHARMA  Rx only PREDNISOLONE ACETATE ophthalmic suspension USP 1% 5 mL.  So far so good . . .back is way harder!  Only the bolder print is legible: "CONTAINS:  Active . . .blah blah blah. . .USUAL DOSAGE . . .blah blah blah. . .shake well before using . . blah blah blah.  OK, forget it. Opened Left eye; only a little better, but still straining.  Put on +1D readers: All letters and numbers are legible without too much strain at 14" distance. So there you have it!  No, can't read all the fine print but nevertheless shocked that so much is even legible at this point.  Did not expect that at all. 

When you wear the -1.0D how much near vision do you lose with the glasses on?

Great question -- I don't have my new prescription yet, but when I put my distance lens over my other eye I can't read anything in the newspaper except the headlines, and most font on my iPhone is illegible unless I really zoom it in.  That was about what I expected if got corrected to distance in both eyes (and what I most wanted to avoid). I will report when I get the new Rx in the next week or so.

Night-Hawk -- in the AM now with sunlight (and sleep) I can read all of it with my right eye (definitely a strain, though).  Who knows if this will last.  I am only reporting it here, not in any way suggesting this is typical.  In my case it was not expected or even desired too much.  I just wanted to be sure I could see the urgent stuff (newspaper, mail, smartphone, papers at work, computer, makeup . . .

So did you get monofocals set for near vision in both eyes?

Thanks!

That all sounds like I would expect, brighter light always makes reading finer print easier.

-1D is what I use for good intermediate (computer vision at 2-3feet, shaving in the mirror, etc) so I didn't expect that to give good fine print reading.

Adding a 1D reading glasses gets you to -2D which should be able to read a lot of the bottle fine print, so that makes sense.

In my own case, my goal for a -1D or so eye is good intermediate vision, for computer and smartphone viewing at about 24" or so.  Anything closer or finer print I'm fine with weak reading glasses.  And then my other eye planning for about -0.25D would cover good distance vision.

Nevermind, I just saw your thread about your IOLs being set for close/intermediate vision. In my opinion and from what I have read, most people use their eyes way more every day for seeing things at a distance compared to close up and for that reason alone I personally would never choose to have monofocals IOLs set for near/intermediate vision.

Thats why the choice is very individual based on your unique priorities.

Some use near vision more than distance, so it makes sense for them to prefer that for their choice.

Others like you want good distance as highest priority, and that makes sense for your choice too.

No one choice is best for all with the current available IOL limitations.

If someday they can make an IOL that perfectly emulates a young natural lens with full focus range and no artifacts, then the choice would be easy for everyone!

That combined with the fact that 9 out of 10 people have good mid-range vision without glasses with monofocal IOLs set for distance (for example, right now I'm on my laptop with normal sized fonts at around 15 inches from my eyes with no glasses on after having both eyes implanted with monofocal IOLs set for distance - the only time I need to wear glasses is if I have to read something really tiny, otherwise I have no glasses on at all, all day long).

Wow, thats an incredible result you got with both distance vision set eyes!

Do you get 20/20 or better for distance vision in both eyes along with that great intermediate and near (15" vision?

I can only hope I get anything close to that after my first cataract eye surgery targeted for good distance vision.

I guess the only exception to this is if you have to read a lot at work which I don't have to do. Even if I did, I would personally still choose monofocal IOLs set for distance and just either wear regular reading glasses or the half readers that have clear glass at the top to look at a desktop computer (that way you don't have to keep taking off glasses and putting them back on to read), since I didn't want to take the risk of having night vision issues with the Symfony lens (aside from the fact they would cost an extra $5,400).

So glad my Symfony lenses didn’t cost that!  Yikes.  No doubt I would have gone with monofocals.  At the time didn’t realize I would get intermediate with monofocals.    But I do have to read and use computer for work.

Today st work had to pull the SIM card from iPad and read serial - couldn’t do it so I took a photo with iphone and presto enlarged the photo.  Thanks goodness for technology!   But that is do tiny print and greyish too.

Probably a good idea to carry one of those credit card sized magnifiers for emergencies too.

Couldn’t hurt - honestly though I asked someone else in the office to see if she could read it but she couldn’t read it either and  didn’t wear glasses!   I like to travel light / find multiple uses for my iPhone.

I bought one of those magnifiers but haven't had to use it yet.

Yes and $5,400 in US dollars for 2 Symfony lenses equals $6,787.26 in Canadian dollars (just looked it up on online currency converter). Plus that price only includes the lenses themselves, although probably most people's insurance here in the US pays for most of the actual surgery depending on what their deductible is and co-payment is (for example, if they have a $5,000 deductible, then they have to pay $5,000 toward the actual surgery before insurance kicks in, not including the price of the Symfony lenses - standard monofocal IOLs don't cost anything extra here if you have insurance). My insurance deductible is $0 and my co-payment for the outpatient surgery center was $125.

Everyone needs to make their own decision, since anything can go wrong with any cataract surgery regardless of which lens you choose.

Yes my distance vision is about 20/20. I did mention I have no problem driving my car without glasses.

Yes I find that price gouging Nina.  As Canadians even without insurance our healthcare pays for the surgery and more bifocal lens.  We can purchase premium lenses at cost less what a monofocal Costs ($300).   I think us surgeons are charging far more than costbfor premium lenses.  And now province of Quebec Medicare as of July this year covers premium lenses too.

Even if I used near vision more than distance I would still get IOLs set for distance. Just my opinion after being someone who hated wearing glasses for seeing everything far away. And they make super cute reading glasses today, so it's not even an excuse for younger people who get cataract surgery to not want to wear reading glasses anymore.

Yep that's good old capitalism...

Unless you're a male and then of course you're stuck with boring reading glasses lol

Playing around with my iPhone settings yesterday I discovered the built-in magnifier (settings > general > accessibility > magnifier > "on". You can access it with a triple click, then adjust colors, size, and even add lighting.  Might come in handy!

I keep getting random smileys in my posts . . .