I had lens replacement in March this year and have had no issues. I was wearing bifocals day to day and readers for work as my near and distant vision had deteriorated. The surgery and aftercare was straightforward and not painful at all. It has had a very positive impact on my life and the freedom of not worrying about glasses is great. I went with Optegra in Leeds. cheers Paul
Never heard of tri-focals, I could do with a pair of those assuming they are close up/closer up/rose tinted.
I also had lens replacement (tri-focal) in 2014 and I agree it’s absolutely life changing, to be able to read tiny print in a news paper to long distance riding / driving without bins is brilliant. I can understand people being apprehensive though, I would advise plenty of research on the procedure (same as cataracts op which is the most common operation in the world!) and on the surgeon that’s going to do it. I have to say the guy who operated on me was brilliant and he said he would not do the operation if he wasn’t confident of meeting my expectations. He would only do 1 eye at a time (2 weeks in between Ops) and only do the second eye when the results of the first one was assessed. Every operation carries a risk but it just depends how much you want to loose your glasses - all the best.
I'm 67 and had the lens replacement surgery about 4 years ago. My wife also but due to cataracts and the gov't health paid for hers. Mine was out of pocket as cataracts not bad enough. Anyhow the benefits far out way any negatives. Only minor negative is some slight haloing from bright lights at night, but it is not debilitating at all. A good doc and clinic are a must. An oops would not be good.
Returning to this thread. I've been to a couple of specialist eye clinics for analysis recently (you obviously have to pass medical suitability tests before they will proceed with any operation) and plan on having the surgery done early next year. As I said before, I doubt anyone wants to have surgery on their eyes unless its causing you big problems and yes, I could survive for the rest of my days by wearing glasses or perhaps contact lenses and not go to this extent. But as I alluded to earlier, my lack of decent vision without glasses has really pissed me off over the last few years. Believe me I'm not looking forward to the operations themselves, but as promised I will keep you all informed on how things go post ops (they do one eye at a time for fairly obvious reasons). Thanks again to everyone who's contributed on this thread, especially those who've had the lens replacement/s done themselves. It was of course very interesting to read your comments. I look forward to being able to ride my bike/s without glasses to see how fast I'm going again! Lol
Hi dilli Sorry I wasn't trying to make out I'm some rich clever arse. I've had to save the pennies to afford the surgery and something I forgot to mention was that I do have cataracts starting to form in both my eyes, albeit they are still at an early stage of development. I was told I'd have to have an Op to remove those in the future anyway. Apparently once you have the artificial lenses fitted cataracts can't reform on them. Mebbe if you have a situation similar to mine the NHS can help?
You go for it mate I looked into this a couple of years ago and had a thread on here about it Can’t remember what I called the thread
I wear glasses for reading and close work. I have a prescription pair which I keep for "best" and fortunately manage quite well with poundshop jobbies of various strengths. When I'm playing around with SMC PCB's I need 3.5's which are stronger than my prescription pair anyway. I also have a prescription pair of safety glasses, courtesy of my employer just before I retired! Useful. My eyes would have to get much worse for me to even consider surgery.
A quick update for those interested. I had my first Op yesterday and whilst just over 24 hours have elapsed I can tell you: a) the surgery is not at all painful b) I can already see and read stuff stuff I couldn't do before (without glasses) such as the time on my digital watch and info on my smart phone screen. Things are still a bit blurry at the mo, through the eye that's had the Op, but that's supposed to settle down over the next few days. I have a post Op check back at the clinic tomorrow and (if all is well) the 2nd eye Op is scheduled for next Saturday. I'll report back again after the 2nd Op and then probably a month or so after that when things have settled down and I have a better assessment of how my vision is overall.
I decided that after wearing glasses for distance and then having to remove them for reading or working on something near me that it was time for a change. This was now 5 years ago and my wife, 3 years ago then had the same Eye operation. We have both had Multi Focal soft lens put into our eyes. They remove the ones you are born with and position the New lens into your eye. As you get older they will not deteriorate, you may be old but will have the good eyes. The Multi focal lens means you can read small print close have, mid focus and see things a long distance away. All we buy in Glasses now are Sun Glasses.
Johne Glad it's all going well. I've had both of mine done. I had a detached retina operation a few years ago (gas bubble put into in eye and all that) which led to cataracts within a year or so. I've worn bottle bottom glasses since a kid and now I don't need them. Absolutely life changing. I'd advise anyone who needs it to go get it. It's quite interesting as well as you are awake when they do it.
Hi all. My other eye had the replacement lens fitted yesterday and whilst its still a bit sore, its settling down nicely and I can see OK. Albeit the multitude of eye drops they give you to prevent inflammation and infection, mean vision in that eye is still a bit blurry. I just wanted to say thanks to you guys for your words of encouragement, especially those who have had it done themselves. I'll report back in a month or so when things have settled down properly and I can give you an honest assessment of the whole thing. If the weather permits I'd also like to get a ride in on the bike to see how things compare pre and post Op.
Your vision will improve after you stop putting in the needed eye drops. Also a small period of time to ‘brain train’ your vision to the new vision. I found colours had changed slightly and at night the star like glare from headlights. Didn’t take that long to adjust. Also your eye sight gets even better in the brighter summer months. All the best. Dave
Well, I apologise for not reporting back on this thread earlier, but I suppose as its now been around 8 or 9 months since I had the replacement lenses fitted, I can perhaps give a more accurate assessment for those interested. Within days, my close up vision was much improved. Reading books, looking at computer screens and perhaps more importantly, working on motorbikes, was a doddle and I haven't worn any kind of reading glasses since. My longer distance vision wasn't immediately as good however and despite the Surgeons advice to 'give them time' I was rather concerned. When i started driving again my ability to read a registration plate from the prescribed distance (20 metres) was frankly borderline . My 'distance' vision did improve and now its probably as good as its going to get. I can read registration plates at the minimum distance and beyond. and I'd say its at around 90% of what I had when I was in my 20's or 30's. So in summary the procedure gets a thumbs up from me. I hope this helps anyone who's thinking of taking the plunge.
