Need a recommendation for Lens Replacement

[Mr Pointy]

I'm 57 have always been very short sighted (-7.5L, -8.0R) but have worn contact lenses quite successfully for some years now. A couple of years ago my optician noticed a cataract in my left eye & this has gradually worsened to the point where I'm only seeing properly with my right eye as the cataract is in the middle of the lens of the left one. I've had various fields tests & while it's there it's going to be along time before it's bad enough for action via the NHS.

I'm now inclined to look at having it done privately so I'm after any recommendations for consultants & hospitals. I'm based around Maidenhead so Berkshire & London are easily accessible.

A second question is about how the two eyes are balanced. Are both set the same or one set for mid/long distance & the other for short/mid distance? I'm not sure how I would cope with that as I tried it with contact lenses & it didn't work for me.

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

[GT03ROB]

Mr Pointy said:

I'm now inclined to look at having it done privately so I'm after any recommendations for consultants & hospitals. I'm based around Maidenhead so Berkshire & London are easily accessible.

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Look up a surgeon called Richard Packard. He did lens replacement surgery on my mother. He is from Berkshire.

[kitz]

When you go in to have your new lens be sure to take your contact lens out , l didn't
because when when the tests were done I thought the contact lens would be obvious .
It wasn't and the new lens was incorrect , Two weeks later the correct lens was fitted
and has been ok .

[968]

Mr Pointy said:

I'm 57 have always been very short sighted (-7.5L, -8.0R) but have worn contact lenses quite successfully for some years now. A couple of years ago my optician noticed a cataract in my left eye & this has gradually worsened to the point where I'm only seeing properly with my right eye as the cataract is in the middle of the lens of the left one. I've had various fields tests & while it's there it's going to be along time before it's bad enough for action via the NHS.

I'm now inclined to look at having it done privately so I'm after any recommendations for consultants & hospitals. I'm based around Maidenhead so Berkshire & London are easily accessible.

A second question is about how the two eyes are balanced. Are both set the same or one set for mid/long distance & the other for short/mid distance? I'm not sure how I would cope with that as I tried it with contact lenses & it didn't work for me.

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

I do lens exchanges, in your case you could either opt for monofocal lenses which would fix you either for distance in both eyes (but you'd need reading glasses) or near in one eye (-1.5) and emmetropia for instance (monovision), which may take you out of glasses but you'd need to be able to cope with the different prescription in both eyes. You could have a trial of that with your contact lenses.

Alternatively you could have multi focal lenses fitted which do distance and near (and sometimes intermediate depending on lens) but these lenses can cause haloes around lights and other symptoms. Whatever you choose though, your vision would be corrected permanently.

[Mr Pointy]

GT03ROB said:

Look up a surgeon called Richard Packard. He did lens replacement surgery on my mother. He is from Berkshire.

Thanks, I'll do that.

[Mr Pointy]

968 said:

I do lens exchanges, in your case you could either opt for monofocal lenses which would fix you either for distance in both eyes (but you'd need reading glasses) or near in one eye (-1.5) and emmetropia for instance (monovision), which may take you out of glasses but you'd need to be able to cope with the different prescription in both eyes. You could have a trial of that with your contact lenses.

Alternatively you could have multi focal lenses fitted which do distance and near (and sometimes intermediate depending on lens) but these lenses can cause haloes around lights and other symptoms. Whatever you choose though, your vision would be corrected permanently.

It's difficult to know which I'd prefer. At the moment my contact lenses are good for distance but of course I now need reading glasses given my age. I'm tired of not being able to read if I've forgotten my glasses & now I need two pairs, 2.5 for reading close & 1.5 for looking at a computer screen. I'm tempted by the description of the multi focal lenses, but are the side effects common?

I've seen that there are some varifocal lenses available, are they good or are they too new to know if there are issues with them?

Thanks for taking the time to reply.