Multifocal lens

[Pup13]

I was recently diagnosed with a cataract and my opthamologist recommended the ReStor multifocal. Everything I am reading on this forum concerning the use of this lens and the ReZoom lens is really unnerving. Can you provide any insight that may bring me to a higher level of confidence in which lens to use?

[JodieJ]

To learn more about the benefits of aspheric monofocal lenses, check out the patient education video at www.tecnisiol.com.  (There are currently 3 excellent aspheric monofocal lenses--from Alcon, AMO, and Bausch & Lomb--but AMO's Tecnis lens has the best website.)

Remember that you are selecting the lenses that you will be growing old with.  And it seems that the aging process in itself has a negative impact on night vision.  Do you really want implants that make your night vision even worse as you age?  (And who doesn't want their vision "exact, and great and just right," as Dr. Kutryb described.  Would anybody prefer vision that is slightly blurred, with a loss of contrast sensitivity?  Would your surgeon want ReStor implants in his/her own eyes?)

I don't think you'd ever regret getting the type correction described above by cay77.

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

The restor could be for  you if  you are willing to deal with possible waxy vision and difficulty seeing to drive at night due to glare and halos.  Also there is no guarantee that you will be free of glasses and might still have to wear glasses at least part of the time.  Best candidates are easy going and non-worriers.  If you like things exact and great and just right -  you need to seriously consider what you may be getting into with a multifocal lens.  Ask your friends and neighbors and people you know what lens type they used.  Suggest you might not want to be first on your block to  have multifocal or accommodating lens.  Don't be fooled by terms like deluxe or premium lenses versus standard or government issue lenses.  Believe me, there is very serious technology behind the aspheric monofocal lenses and they can give very outstanding, dependable, crisp vision - but remember you will likely need reading glasses to some degree.  With multifocal or accommodating lenses, I have learned that they do just what they say they do, both good and bad.  If you can take the good and deal with the bad - it might be for  you.  Aspheric monofocal is more reliable as far as knowing what you are going to get and avoiding unexpected visual problems.

MJK MD

[cay77]

I don't know if this will help in your decision, but I too agonized over whether to try the Restor iols or to go with standard monofocal.  I pored over past posts on this forum and was especially interested in the forum doctors' opinions.  It was a really hard decision to make, but I opted for the standard iols.  I just want to report that I have had both eyes implanted with the Acrysoft IQ lenses and I couldn't be happier.  My dominant eye is corrected for plano, and the other eye for a -.75.  My distance vision and intermediate vison is sharp, clear and just plain exciting compared to the fuzz I was living with for so long with the cataracts.  I can see items clearly on the grocery store shelves, read the larger print on labels, read price tags and anything not too small.  I need reading glasses for close work and serious reading, but my fear of not being able to function at all without reading glasses hanging around my neck at all times has not happened. I have no halos or problems with night vision.   So I am very happy with my decision and thank the doctors and others on this forum for helping me make it..

[JodieJ]

Well, the cataract surgeons' choice for their own eyes (in a forced choice situation involving multifocal/accommodating IOLs) wouldn't be ReStor.  (See www.lachmanconsulting.com/EyeQRpt11.pdf)  And if you read through recent threads on both eye care forums, you'll see that the Crystalens isn't exactly problem-free.  As a post-cataract surgery patient, I don't think that you'd ever regret your decision to get aspheric monofocal lenses.