Near Vision After Cataract Surgery - What Will Happen?

Will my near vision be better after cataract surgery? Will I be able to read without glasses after my cataracts are removed?

After a cataract is removed a prescription lens implant (intraocular lens implant or IOL) is placed inside your eye at the end of the surgery.

You have many choices available to you today in terms of the type of lens implant you can receive.  If you decide to have both eyes corrected for distance vision then you may only need to wear reading glasses after your surgery. On the other hand you may enjoy having the ability to read without glasses and have your eyes corrected for near, in this case you would still need to wear glasses for distance. In addition you can chose to have one eye corrected for distance and one eye corrected for near vision, this is called monovision.

Finally, there are toric lens implants which can correct the astigmatism in your prescription and multifocal or bifocal lens implants which can be used so that you may not need to wear any glasses at all after surgery.

You should have a discussion before surgery with your eye doctor about the type of lens implant that will be used to see which lens implant is right for you.