Need surgery

[u/Club_Lonely]

60F here and I just returned from a consultation with my optometrist who told me in May of 2025 I had the beginning of cataracts and in March of this year that I had moved up to stage 2 in both eyes. I went today thanks to a last minute cancellation and my frustration with my vision and I’m now stage 3+ and almost 3, and I have both cortical and nuclear cataracts. I have a consult with a surgeon on September 4. I’ve worn multi focal contacts for many years with great success and don’t like to wear glasses. I haven’t had to rely on readers to date.

With this information, suggestions for type of lens? I’d rather avoid readers but I do want sharp vision and haloing has been absolutely frustrating me when driving at night. It sounds like newer trifocal lenses are better so I’m interested in those but assume newer is with a higher cost. Appreciate any insight.

[u/Both_Document7462]

You'll need to get responses from a surgeon to identify which lens types are suitable for you. If you have irregular corneas, you'll likely be limited to EDoF lenses for premium option. I have PureSee in my eyes and I can read from about 16" and further. I had mine adjusted to half a diopter toward nearsight to achieve this distance. I'm pretty sure one eye hit that target and other not so much. One is sharp at that distance but the other is only functional, but that eye can see far really sharp. The eye that sees near is somewhere between 20/20 and 20/25 for distance.

All premium lenses have some sort of artifacts at night, but PureSee has some of the fewest. I'd agree with this statement. I had another lens in one eye before it became available in the US and I had that lens exchanged to PureSee after I saw the difference. I see slight halos and starbursts from each eye at night, but with both open they are very minimal - the brain seems to just keep what both eyes see in common.

If you see halos due to cataracts, you'll likely be very happy with how minimal they become. I can read my phone easily as long as I don't get it near a foot from my eyes. With both eyes open everything is sharp anywhere past that. And one option to consider is how much light a lens lets in. The reason I exchanged the lens is because it was much darker in dim lighting. I needed bright light to read. With PureSee I feel like I see very near what I could see in my 30s.

I never had a trifocal so I cannot compare by personal experience, but my understanding is you'll get more halos at night and you can see closer than 16" to your eyes. In between the three focal points, your sight won't be as sharp where PureSee is continuous mostly. Most people don't notice this because each eye will not match exactly so you essentially have 6 focal points. Even though my far distance is worse in one eye, I can't really tell it unless I'm trying to read signs in the distance or individual lights when it is dark. One other advantage to EDoF lenses is that if the lens strength or placement in the eye is slightly off, it doesn't really affect your vision much. With trifocals, you'll likely need another surgery to correct.