Near and Distance Vision Enhancement

Scottsdale, Mesa and Phoenix, Arizona patients with cataracts can now enjoy greater freedom from eyeglasses after surgery. 

If you are a prospective Arizona cataract surgery patient who would like to see close up and far away without glasses after cataract surgery, then we can help, but you will need services beyond routine cataract surgery to achieve this result. We call these additional services Near and Distance Vision Enhancement, and there are two options available:

Blended Vision (aka Mini-Monovision)

The goal of blended vision is to allow you to see without glasses at both distance and up close by setting the focus of one eye for distance and the other eye for near.  Though blended vision typically allows you to go without glasses most of the time, it is not uncommon to occasionally wear reading glasses for small print, extended reading or reading in dim light, and some patients choose to wear distance glasses for night driving. Overall, blended vision patients are usually very happy with their vision.

In order to create blended vision, it is sometimes necessary to perform additional treatment for astigmatism during cataract surgery. At other times, the vision needs to be fine-tuned with laser vision correction or other procedures a few months later.

Most people do great with blended vision. However, for those who cannot adjust to the difference between the two eyes, contact lenses or eyeglasses can be worn or vision correction surgery can be performed to reduce or eliminate the blended vision. If such a reversal procedure is performed, both eyes are then set for distance and reading glasses are used even more for near activities.

Our blended vision package is $850 per eye and, very importantly, includes PRK or LASIK touch-up, if indicated. (If you have significant astigmatism or have had previous RK, PRK or LASIK surgery, it will be higher.) 

Multifocal Lenses

Multifocal lenses are designed to help each individual eye see both near and far. As such, they allow both eyes to work together for near vision and both eyes to work together for distance vision, whereas with blended vision, one eye is doing most of the distance work, while the other eye is doing most of the near. In general terms, these lenses allow cataract surgery patients the most freedom from eyeglasses that is currently available. Most patients are able to go without glasses for nearly all daily activities, though occasional use is sometimes necessary for visually demanding tasks.

There are several multifocal lenses on the market, such as the Alcon ReStor, Bausch and Lomb CrystaLens and AMO Tecnis multifocal lens. We have tried them all and our favorite is the AMO Tecnis, because in our experience it provides more freedom from glasses, a higher quality of vision, and fewer night vision problems.

In order to utilize multifocal lenses, it is sometimes necessary to perform additional treatment for astigmatism during cataract surgery. At other times, the vision needs to be fine-tuned with laser vision correction or other procedures a few months later.

Our multifocal lens package is $2900 per eye and, very importantly, includes PRK or LASIK touch-up, if indicated. (If you have significant astigmatism or have had previous RK, PRK or LASIK surgery, it will be higher.)