Cataract Surgery: Monofocal VS Multifocal

Cataract Surgery: Monofocal VS Multifocal

If you are thinking about having cataract surgery, the key factor you should take into consideration is the type of lens that will be fitted during the surgery.

Our eyes are the window to the world. When our sight is blurred or clouded, our quality of life decreases. Why not see your pet chase and play with its tail in high-definition? If yes, cataract surgery is the solution for you and you should know the difference between monofocal and multifocal lenses.

There are many types of lenses used. Which one is the right one for you will be decided upon your tests results, our doctor's suggestions to your case and your expectations from the cataract surgery. Most common lens types are monofocal and multifocal lenses. We’ll take a look at the difference, pros and cons to these lens types. While monofocal lenses stay the trusted companion, multifocal lenses takes the attaction by its recent success.

Monofocal Lens

With this type of lens, your sight will focus on only one distance: near sight or far sight. If you wish to correct your far distance sight and have the lens for it, you might still need glasses for reading. Likewise, if you correct your near sight vision with monofocal lens, you might need to wear your glasses while driving. In many cases, one eye can be set for near sight and the other for far vision and this is called “monovision”. While adapting to your monovision may take time, once you get used to it you’ll know that you have made the right choice.

Multifocal Lens

Multifocal lens helps you to treat both your far distance and near distance of your eyes. However, there are ups and downs to multifocal lenses. Test results has shown that multifocal lens has better outcome for near sight treatment, it reduces your need for glasses for 40 cm distance (near sight). This basically means you won’t need glasses while reading your favorite detective novel. The downside of it has been recorded in many studies that patients with multifocal lens has experienced cataract-like symptoms such as a glare or light halos following the cataract operation. Nonetheless, the advantage of fixing your near, far and intermediate distance altogether has its own benefit.

Cataract surgery allows you to upgrade your vision with different types of lenses. Although there are different outcomes of every lens, both monofocal and multifocal lenses has distinctive strategies to treat your cataract. Speak to your medical consultant about which lens might work best for you.