Lens replacement surgery

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Has anyone had lens replacement surgery.
I am short sighted and long sighted and have an astigmatism my life is a constant round of different glasses driving, Reading, indoor varifocals and prescription sunglasses. On off on off.
Had an assessment I am a suitable candidate they can use a lens that will definitely fix the short sighted problem and the astigmatism and 90% likely to fix the long sight.
It is surgery there are risks and some patients have complications and require a second surgery. It's not cheap, but then neither are the multiple pairs of glasses every few years.
But I think it could dramatically improve my quality of life. I am a vet and the other day a dog head butted my glasses and I am currently sporting a black eye from that.
But I know no one who has had this surgery and I was just wondering if anyone here had had it done?

My DH had it done a couple of years ago - it changed his life ! He'd had poor vision all his life, and like you he was always putting on / off glasses or contacts. he was truly fed up with it. He had the surgery on both eyes at once - I think they sometimes do one at a time , but if you've got someone at home they'll do both.

It only took a short time - I was waiting and I only read a few pages of my book and he was finished. He had anaesthetic drops , and didn't feel a thing. He had to wear eye pads for ( I think) one day, then they came off and he had to use drops for a couple of weeks. He had to take it easy for a few weeks, no heavy lifting, no swimming etc.

He found that it took about a week before his vision was clear , but after that he was fine. He couldn't be happier with the results .

Good luck with your surgery - I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

@starrynight21 how long was he not able to drive for? I can see that there will be huge benefits and really it is no different to cataract surgery. My parents have also both had cataract surgery so I see it as future proofing myself as well.

Wow, following with great interest. Something I have thought about on and off for a few years now, but if it’s so successful why do the opticians, etc not have it done? This is the thought that keeps nagging at me. I would love to go ahead and have his done, but the thought of it going wrong, that would be the biggest regret of my life.

My mum had it done when she had her cataracts done at the same time. She was -12 in both eyes and she said it changed her life. I can’t remember much about the recovery to be honest - this was in 2016 and she passed away in 2019 but I do remember she didn’t really have any issues and it was fairly quick and straightforward. The main thing they warned her about is the risk of retinal detachment as obviously being short sighted you’re at risk of that anyway even without your eyes being mucked about with. But thankfully she didn’t have any problems.

Is this the same surgery as they do for cataracts? I had cataract surgery in both eyes and the lenses they put in improved my distance vision from a prescription of 13+ in both eyes to 0.25 in both eyes - I also have astigmatism in one eye and it has improved . After a lifetime of short-sightedness it's pretty miraculous!

The only thing is that I can now no longer read at all without glasses - I felt a bit vulnerable in a strange way having very little close vision, after living with short-sightedness for so long. Consequently I do still wear specs all the time - bi focals with clear glass at the top and my reading prescription at the bottom. I guess it depends how much reading /close work you need to do, I couldn't be bothered putting reading glasses on every time I needed to read something.

I was talking to my optician last week about this surgery. He said he felt it would eventually replace laser eye for correcting visions as it was a much more permanent fix and with laser whilst you will correct short sighted vision you will still potentially develop near sighted issues associated with age. With a lens replacement there is no age related deterioration later. I have decided to wait a few years until it becomes more affordable!

Dh had this done earlier this year. He had cataracts removed and the lens in both eyes done but he was only 1 point away from being declared blind

He still has to wear reading glasses but now can see even the small lettering on signs and can drive in the dark.

He did it through the nhs as it was cheaper than letting him go blind and all the extra help he would need

@HeartZone

Wow, following with great interest. Something I have thought about on and off for a few years now, but if it’s so successful why do the opticians, etc not have it done? This is the thought that keeps nagging at me. I would love to go ahead and have his done, but the thought of it going wrong, that would be the biggest regret of my life.

Probably because it is still fairly expensive £7.3 for both eyes and currently there aren't many centres offering the surgery. I am lucky there is one within 30miles of me. @reprehensibleme yes it is the same surgery as for cataracts, which does reassure me that these surgeons do thousands of these a year.They can now fit multi focal lenses so no need for reading glasses and they can correct the astigmatism as well.

DD2 had a cataract on the back of her eye so had a lens replacement when she was 5. It failed within about 8 years (it slipped) which left her with horrendous migraines and dizziness.

Thankfully the cataract returned so she’s now blind in that eye. No more migraines but only 50% vision.

My story is slightly different in that I had a lens replacement but because of a detached retina surgery not to correct vision. The surgery is very straightforward and recovery for just the lens replacement is a breeze.

My friend had it years ago to correct her vision and said the result was immediate and other than a few drops for a few days and a bit of redness there was no pain or recuperation, she was back at work the next day and doing everything as normal.

As I say mine was a bit different and I did end up with posterior capsule opacification (PCO) which is a fairly common side effect and meant I grew a filmy layer on the back of the replacement lens kind of like a cataract. It was lasered away in a procedure that took about 5 mins, was completely painless and that I had done privately using work health insurance, otherwise it costs about £400 or 18 months on an NHS waiting list.

Had it done about 15 years ago. Utterly life changing and one of the best things I have ever done

Thanks for this thread, OP. I've been researching lens replacement as I'm unsuitable for laser. Can I ask how old those who have had replacement surgery done were when they had it? I'm nearly 40 and have been told to come back when I'm older, but no indication of when.

I am 48, in general it is offered to the over 50s. I think I am right on the border for offering it, I would actually be 49 before it would be done.
I have now discovered my employer offers 10% discount on the surgery which is very beneficial.

Thanks, lonecat, very helpful. Sorry for jumping on your thread too!

Whenasuitcasejustwontdo, I was early 50s.

OP I had it done on both eyes a few months ago, as like you I was struggling with a complex prescription and had cataracts that were giving me issues with bright sunlight. I had it done privately by a Consultant who came recommended.
I paid less than you, just under £5000. My prescription was changing annually and I think the surgery should pay for itself within 5 years.
I could legally drive within a day although I had trouble with depth perception with vision in one eye only, I had surgery for the second eye a week later and have ended up being able to drive, use my laptop and phone without glasses but need them for comfortable reading and work. I had an eye test 6 weeks after surgery and used off the shelf readers until then.
I'm a dentist so was very cautious about doing this as my vision is critical but I was advised that I might as well just get it done as my cataracts would slowly impact on ability to work.
The only downsides I have noticed is that sunlight is really irritating to my eyes - obviously those cataracts were filtering it and when I'm tired my vision is slightly blurry- I've assumed this is because my brain hasn't quite adapted to my changes yet.

I was about 25

korawick12345 gosh you were really young. Have you had any problems with posterior capsule opacity?

I know this is about 5 months old but wondering if @lonecatwithkitten had it done?

@Rollerbird yes I did have it done with the multi focal lenses.
The actual surgery I wish they had gone into more detail as to what would happen during the surgery and how I would be afterwards.
It was also not explained about the brain adaption period I had about 6 weeks where I felt like they were not my eyes. Also reading on low light is difficult and I need reading glasses for close detailed work.
But generally it is better for driving and everyday life.

Thanks. Are you happy you did it?
Also can you tell me the surgeon and hospital?

Hi Lonecatwithkitten,I'm booked to have trifocal lens replacement in 3 weeks, but really wavering. So difficult to find anyone who has had it done. He will be using the synergy lenses. How was your experience, and how are your eyes now?