The majority of adults in the UK require glasses or contact lenses to correct pre-existing refractive errors including short-sight, long-sight and astigmatism.
Many patients are used to wearing their glasses and do not want to stop. However, for some, cataract surgery is a welcome opportunity to reduce their dependency on glasses.
All lenses come in different strengths, and the power most suited to you will be calculated according to the measurements taken before the surgery. Depending upon your visual requirements as well as the level of astigmatism, I may recommend a monofocal lens, toric lens or multifocal lens.
A monofocal lens is the commonest lens used in the UK currently and the power is usually selected to provide the best possible distance vision. The lens has a fixed focus, so you will normally need to continue to use reading glasses. These lenses typically offer the highest quality of vision.
A toric lens is designed to correct your astigmatism, and will be necessary to provide good distance vision without glasses if your astigmatism is sufficiently severe. Like monofocal lenses, they offer very high quality of vision.
A multifocal lens
works in a similar way to varifocal
glasses. These lenses can be placed in one or both eyes and offer the maximum chance of good reading and distance vision with reduced dependency on glasses. As technology has improved, these lenses have become more popular. However, a minority of patients do experience some glare and difficulty distinguishing between shades of grey (contrast sensitivity).