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Cataract Surgery

Are you experiencing cloudy, blurry vision? Do you think you may have cataracts?

You may be a good candidate for cataract surgery at 20/20 Eye Physicians of Indiana. Our dedicated team of experts can help diagnose and treat your cataracts so you can get back to living your life with clear, uninterrupted vision.

What are Cataracts?

Cataracts are typically due to aging. They occur when proteins in the lens of your eye begin to break down and form clumps that cause cloudy or blurry vision.

Patients with cataracts also often experience symptoms including:

  • Seeing colors as dull or faded
  • Seeing halos or glare around lights
  • Colors appearing yellow or muddy
  • Increased light sensitivity
  • Finding it difficult to drive at night
  • Needing more light for activities like reading
  • Needing frequent prescription changes
  • Double vision

Although these symptoms are often a sign of cataracts, they could indicate other eye conditions like glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration. It’s important to schedule an appointment with your eye doctor if you are experiencing any of these symptoms so they can properly diagnose you.

How Are Cataracts Detected?

How are Cataracts Treated?

The only way to treat cataracts is with cataract surgery. Most patients won’t need the procedure immediately after diagnosis.

However, if cataracts inhibit your ability to carry out everyday activities, it is time to consider cataract surgery. The procedure is minimally invasive and takes about 10 to 20 minutes to complete.

Your cataract surgeon will begin by numbing your eyes with eye drops to ensure you are comfortable. Then, they will make small incisions in the cornea and the lens capsule.

Your cataract surgeon will break up the lens with ultrasound waves in a process called phacoemulsification. Then, the lens fragments will be suctioned out, and your surgeon will place an intraocular lens (IOL) in place of your natural lens.

If you have astigmatism, 20/20 Eye Physicians of Indiana also offers limbal relaxing incisions (LRI) that can be done during cataract surgery. These are small incisions made around the cornea that can help correct mild to moderate astigmatism and improve visual outcomes.

Your surgeon will send you home with post-operative care instructions, a protective eye shield, and eye drops that prevent infection and reduce inflammation. You will need to come in for a follow-up appointment the day after your procedure, where your cataract surgeon will examine your eye and let you know when you can resume activities like driving and going to work.

Monofocal IOL

Monofocal lenses are often referred to as the standard lens because they can correct vision at a single distance. During cataract surgery, this lens is the only one that Medicare will usually cover.

Because it’s a basic intraocular lens, it does not correct astigmatism, and patients will need to wear glasses after cataract surgery. This is to ensure that they can see at other distances that the monofocal lens can’t correct.

There are no extra out-of-pocket expenses for patients that choose this lens, as Medicare covers this and cataract surgery.


Lens Brands

Acrysof IQ (Monofocal), Tecnis, Staar NanoFLEX IOL

Multifocal IOL

Multifocal lenses offer a continuous range of sight from distance to intermediate distances. Patients that choose multifocal lenses report fewer visual disturbances like halos.

Patients with a multifocal lens may need to use reading glasses when performing tasks like reading things with fine print. Multifocal IOLs are premium lenses, meaning you will have to pay out of pocket for them. These lenses have several regions with different powers. This allows people to see up-close, far away, and intermediate distances.

This lens can cause more glare and loss of contrast than monofocal or toric lenses. Multifocal lenses cannot correct astigmatism unless the lens comes in a toric model. Some patients may still need to wear glasses or contact lenses after cataract surgery for clear vision.


Lens Brands

Acrysof IQ Restor, Symfony, Symfony Toric, AcrySof™ IQ Vivity™ Extended Vision Intraocular Lens (IOL), AcrySof™ IQ Vivity™ Toric Extended Vision IOLs, AcrySof™ IQ Vivity™ Extended Vision UV Absorbing IOL, and AcrySof™ IQ Vivity™, Toric Extended Vision UV Absorbing IOLs, Panoptix

Toric IOL

Toric lenses share some similarities with monofocal lenses, but they are specifically designed to correct astigmatism. This allows patients with astigmatism to see well at a distance or far away.

They will then need to wear glasses to compensate for the distance that the lens didn’t correct for. Insurance, Medicare, and secondary insurances do not cover this lens, so there is an out-of-pocket expense. Many advanced lens implants will have a toric component. This enables an extended range of vision as well as astigmatism correction.


Lens Brands

Tecnis Toric, Staar C2 Aspheric Optic

What Will My Vision Be Like After Cataract Surgery?

As your eyes heal, your vision will likely improve over the next few days following cataract surgery. However, your specific visual outcome will depend on the IOL you choose.

20/20 Eye Physicians of Indiana offers multiple IOL packages, including:

Standard or monofocal IOLs can correct refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism at one distance. This means you will still need visual aids to see at certain distances.

This package also offers monovision, a process where your cataract surgeon will place monofocal IOLs of two different powers in each eye. Monovision can help you achieve greater visual freedom as the brain naturally adjusts to provide clear vision at multiple distances.

Astigmatism IOLs or toric IOLs can help correct astigmatism after cataract surgery. For patients with astigmatism lower than two diopters, limbal relaxing incisions may be a better choice for correcting astigmatism, whereas patients with astigmatism higher than two diopters are better suited for toric IOLs.

The freedom package features the multifocal IOL, a premium IOL that provides clear vision at multiple distances. This IOL can significantly reduce your dependence on glasses and contacts, allowing you to see clearly whether you’re reading up close or watching the sunset in the distance.

No matter which IOL you choose, after cataract surgery with 20/20 Eye Physicians of Indiana, you can enjoy cataract-free vision for the rest of your life. IOLs cannot develop cataracts, meaning your new vision is yours to keep.

Do you want to learn more about cataracts? Schedule an appointment with 20/20 Eye Physicians of Indiana in Indianapolis, IN, today!