Your Treatment Options

Depending on your evaluation and expectations after cataract surgery, your surgeon may give you the choice of receiving a traditional monofocal IOL (intraocular lens), or a ‘premium’ IOL.  Monofocal IOLs are the most common lenses used in cataract surgery.  While they provide immediate restoration of vision, they are called monofocal lenses because they provide clear vision at one particular distance.  Patients will still need to wear glasses for most common activities such as reading, driving and watching TV.

At Eye Associates of Brazos Valley, we pride ourselves on being at the cutting edge of premium lens implantation procedures.  We’ve developed several methods of treatment that could leave you independent from glasses or contacts after your procedure. 

The type of surgery you choose depends on your eyes, your needs, and your lifestyle. 
Depending on your pre-operative testing, cataract patients and Refractive Lens Exchange patients at Eye Associates of Brazos Valley will have some or all of the lens options below to choose from for their customized procedure:

Tier 1:  Standard Monofocal IOL Surgery.

This is traditional cataract surgery.  In this procedure, Dr. Beim replaces the cloudy natural lens with a clear replacement lens.  The results are great because the cataract is removed and you will be able to see clearly again, but you will have to continue to wear glasses to correct your prescription for reading and distance.  You will be dependent upon glasses.

The Eye Associates of Brazos Valley CLEAR℠ Custom Evaluation And Replacement Procedures

Tier 2:  CLEAR℠ wavefront aspheric lenses-Better that LASIK!.

"Better than LASIK", is a process that Dr. Beim conceived in 2008.  It involves complete vision analysis and lens replacement with wavefront aspheric lenses with powers (prescriptions) customized to your specific eyes.. 

These lenses are designed based on a wavefront analysis of your visual field, which is like taking a 3D image of your eyesight.  This allows for the engineering of a lens that not only corrects your refractive error (nearsightedness, farsightedness), but also the other fine errors of your vision that cause poor vision in low-light conditions and things such as glare and halos around lights.  The result is great visual acuity AND great visual clarity.  

There are two manners in which Dr. Beim can perform this detailed CLEAR process:  CLEAR℠ Modified Monovision and CLEAR℠ True Monovison

CLEAR℠ Modified Monovision:

This is a process by which your visual system is thoroughly analyzed, and your cloudy cataract lens is replaced with a clear aspheric lens that is fine-tuned to give you the best intermediate and distance vision possible, as well as some large print reading vision. This is wonderful for people who don’t mind wearing glasses for small print reading (such as a prescription pill bottle), and wish to be glasses free at all other distances.

CLEAR℠ True Monovision:

With CLEAR℠ True Monovision, the same aspheric lenses that provide spectacular clarity of vision are used, but in this case, one of your lenses is engineered to see at a distance, and the other is structured to provide up close vision.  So you have lenses in your eyes adjusted to different focal lengths.  The result is the ability to see clearly both up close and at a distance, for a result that could leave you seeing clearly, as well as completely free of glasses at all distances. 

A vital part of the CLEAR℠ process for both CLEAR Modified Monovision and CLEAR True Monovision involves "trying on the shoes before you buy them" Contact lenses that simulate the surgical result are given to you on a trial basis. These lenses are then modified based on the patient's preference until the desired result is achieved. This is how we can customized your result for what YOU want, not what your surgeon thinks you want. 

Tier 3:  CLEAR℠ Toric Lenses for Astigmatism – Better than LASIK! 

In this option, patients still undergo the same process of analysis as above in Tier 2, the only difference is the ability to correct astigmatism in addition to everything else.  Toric IOLs are designed to specifically correct astigmatism, as well as your nearsightedness and farsightedness. 

Astigmatism is a condition of the cornea, the clear outer part of the eye, and not the lens; so normal lens replacement won’t fix this condition.  A patient would still have to wear glasses or contacts if their astigmatism is not corrected.

With astigmatism, your cornea is shaped more like a football than a baseball, so the light that enters your eye is distorted and blurry vision occurs.  By replacing your cloudy cataract lens with a Toric IOL that is specifically designed to counteract this irregular corneal curvature, you can correct your vision including for your astigmatism, without glasses.

Tier 4:  Multifocal IOLs:  Better than LASIK!

Multifocal IOL’s are a new, advanced type of lens technology that provides vision correction at all distances, thereby eliminating your dependence on glasses or contacts.  Depending on your lifestyle and your desire to be completely glasses free, a multifocal IOL might be a wonderful option for you.
Amazing strides have been made in multifocal lens technology.  You now get permanent vision correction at all distances.  It is clearly the future of all vision correction surgery.  

Schedule a complimentary lens evaluation to learn more about the amazing premium lens technology offered at Eye Associates of Brazos Valley.