Hi everyone,
I am a 25 year old dental student with a left eye cataract. My right eye is healthy and is -4.0 and my left eye is -2.0 with about -1.25 astigmatism. I went to see an opthalmologist today for a consultation, and basically the two options that we discussed for my treatment are 1) Crystalens HD set to around -.75 with either glasses or laser surgery to correct the astigmatism in that eye or 2) monofocal IOL set for plano or intermediate distance -1.25 with either glasses or laser surgery to correct the astigmatism. In both cases, my right eye would wear a contact lens and get LASIK in the future. He seemed to be leaning towards the Crystalens rather than the monofocal, as he said it would give me accommodation. However, I am to expect that it will not give me accommodation for the rest of my life, rather, sooner or later (he said anywhere between 1-15 years) my capsules will shrink and I will essentially have a monofocal lens. This is due to my young age and more vigorous healing response.
I am leaning towards the monofocal solution, as I have read quite a few posts on the forums here, and most forum docs tend to recommend the monofocal solution, and sooner or later I can expect my Crystalens to become a monofocal lens anyway.
So finally to my question to the community. What are the benefits to setting the monofocal to plano vs. -1.25? I am a dental student and my vision between 10-20inches is vital. I understand that with monofocals, I will need reading glasses to see up close regardless if it is plano or intermediate distance. Are multifocal contact lenses a possibility? I will be getting loupes as soon as I get my cataract surgery done. Any information would be helpful, and I will bring them up at my next appointment with my surgeon in January.
Thank you and happy holiday season!
HH