I can’t imagine anyone over the age of 40/45 bring able to read in contacts unless they are bi-focal or wearing one close one far contact. Otherwise everyone I know uses reading glasses over the contacts.
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Once you have your cataract surgery, you will wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
I was VERY nearsighted. I’m still a little nearsighted and elected to continue wearing glasses for distance. I do not need them for reading at all. My progressive lenses post cataract are clear at the bottom. This was my choice. I could not get correction for both distance and closeup…and I’m just not a readers glasses person. Plus, I have worn glasses my whole life.
One funny warning. If you plan to paint your house, do NOT choose your paint color until after your cataract surgery. The colors will be much more vibrant. We had our whole house painted just before my cataract surgery. I had chosen several off white shades, and my favorite was a very very pale yellow beige. My husband actually agreed. It was shocked because he hates yellow. Well…I had my first eye done, and when closing one eye post cataract and then the other eye with cataract not done…I realized there wasn’t much yellow in my paint color…at all! But it’s fine. I still like the color!
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The doctor said that you are a few years out but wants to schedule a consult now? Is it the same doctor who will be doing the surgery or a different one?
I had cataract surgery in April and May of 2022. My cataracts were “very ripe” and I really had no choice. My vision, with glasses, was able to be corrected to 20/40. The weird thing is that the cataracts made my near vision perfect. I did not need reading glasses and was able to read the small print on bottles that is impossible to see.
I chose the regular distance lenses and now I need reading glasses, so I got progressives (very mild prescription on top, reading on bottom). I did not fix my astigmatism (my choice) and did not choose any of the specialty lenses (my choice). I stuck with the basic distance lens and am very happy.
The surgery was easy and my vision was improved immediately. To this day I am still amazed when I look at colors, the brightness etc. I still cannot get over the difference. I agree that what I used to think was white…was really yellow!
I have dry eye, but I had it prior to the surgery. My dry eye is well controlled with drops.
I had my right eye done first, which meant that for 2 weeks I was a little imbalanced. It wasn’t too bad.
Don’t want to go too far off topic.
I’ve done the mono vision, one eye close, one eye far but that wasn’t working so I switched to bifocal contacts a couple of years ago. They work better but not perfect.
When the pandemic hit, I wasn’t going anywhere so I hung out in my leggings and glasses. Found out that I could see a lot better reading in my glasses 
Now I’m getting out in pants and contacts again. 
My dad and another friend were not able to get total correction after their cataract surgeries and still had to wear glasses.
It’s the same one. Yes, I know what you are thinking. But he’s one of the leaders in our city and actually was the first to perform LASIK here in the 90’s. He’s been doing this for almost 40 years. I really felt like it was more a “why live like this when you don’t have to” comment.
I still have to wear glasses, but they are far less strong than before my cataract surgery. Before, I never could get things like wireless glasses. Now, I can. My glasses are razor thin now. It’s really nice.
I’ve worn glasses my whole life so it was no big deal to continue to need them.
I should add…I have 7 pairs of glasses all purchased online. My RX is not very complicated anymore…and these glasses are inexpensive and fun!
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See…I’m trying to get out of glasses completely! I guess this will be what my consult is for.
I need reading glasses but I needed them since my 40’s so I don’t mind. My distance is 20/25- it would have been 20/20 if I had corrected the astigmatism, but I chose to go with the basic distance lens after doing some research.
Your eye doc will give you your options…based on what he sees in you now. I had two choices:
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20/20 distance vision and needing readers for anything close up.
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Better distance vision by a lot and no need for anything when reading.
I chose the latter. Like I said…readers are just not my thing.
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My mom was even more extreme. She had her eyes done this year, in her mid 70s. Up until that point, she was legally blind almost her whole life - plus bifocals later.
After hers, her distance vision was 20-20, but she would still need readers. She elected to get bifocals with no correction for distance, just glass, and the prescription for the close up portion. Her reasoning was that she’s had her glasses her whole life. She wouldn’t know what to do without them. And didn’t want the hassle of keeping up with/taking readers on and off.
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I had laser surgery in conjunction with cataract removal in both eyes. Sixty odd years of glasses/contacts done and over.
I had monovision contacts for years. Used driving glasses to fine tune distance. So when I had cataract surgery I had the same done. I had one eye mid to far distance and the other mid to close. I don’t need the glasses unless I decide I want slightly better distance as in nighttime driving. Dr said they would on,y do monovision cataract surgery if you had the same in contacts.
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I had lasik done in 2020 and was very happy with it. I had cataract surgery in my left eye about 4 years ago, and am due to go in for cataract surgery on my right eye in December. With either lasik or cataract surgery, you may have excellent vision for awhile, but as you age you’ll likely need at least readers.
The cataract surgery on my left eye didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. It was 20/20 a few weeks after the surgery, but then started degenerating. My optometrist says it’s now in the 20/40 to 20/60 range. I don’t absolutely need glasses to read with that eye, but they do help a bit, especially if the font is small.
In addition to the cataract surgery on my right eye, I’m going to have a laser procedure done where they remove some of the clouding in the left eye that often occurs after cataract surgery. I don’t typically wear glasses while puttering around the house or in the gym, but I have a pair for driving, another pair for reading, and a third pair when I’m on the computer. I fully expect to have to wear glasses for the rest of my life, but hopefully I’ll be less dependent on them.
Since cataract surgery replaces the lens in your eye, you shouldn’t experience the same aging process as you do with LASIK.
My very nearsighted SIL somehow missed the message that she would probably need reading glasses after cataract surgery. She used to just be able to look at things from an inch or two away. Unfortunately she’s also had a lot of problem with swelling so they couldn’t give her a real prescription after surgery. Apparently the sort of complications she’s had are more common for someone who was extremely nearsighted.
I found out I had mild cataracts at my last exam. I had been frustrated with my vision for 3-4 years and just thought my eye doctor wasn’t giving me the right prescription. I got laser surgery in 1990 but as I got older I needed glasses again, but at a much lower strength than before surgery. I currently have three pairs of glasses : progressives, sunglasses progressives, and computer glasses. I won’t mind if I still have to wear glasses afterwards as long as I can see more clearly.
One weird symptom was that about a year ago, I was driving up to Massachusetts from Virginia for a fall color trip. While on the drive, I lost my color vision almost completely for a while.
My doc said I could wait a while or have surgery now if I felt I needed it. I was telling him about being frustrated at not being able to see birds with binoculars, and he told me he’d taken an ornithology class in college so could understand - so if I wasn’t able to do things that were important to me, then the surgery could be done while the condition was relatively mild.
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Cataract surgery can be done on nearly anyone, almost at any age. The distinction of whether they’re “ready” or not is only a matter of insurance paying. They require a certain level of vision deficit and a compromise in an activity of daily living. Otherwise they’d be bankrupted by unscrupulous surgeons, as EVERYONE gets them.
If your desire is glasses free vision, you might be disappointed. No lensectomy can restore accommodation (focusing for near). Anything that gives vision at all distances (multifocal IOLS) comes with a side effect…glare.
If you go this route, make sure you choose a surgeon that does LASIK, and be prepared to still possibly wear glasses for some activities like fine print or driving at night.
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Thanks. You said the side effect of multificals is glare. Do you mean glare when driving?
I also have astigmatism and wonder how that would play out. I was planning on doing the lenses where you can see both ways, paying out of pocket for some of it.