If you have any questions about our vision procedures or to schedule a consultation, contact us using the form below or call today.
San Francisco
St. Mary’s Medical Center at Golden Gate Park
2250 Hayes Street, Suite 208
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 387-8887
View Map
California Pacific Medical Center in Pacific Heights
2300 California Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, Ca 94115
(415) 921-7555
View Map
Daly City
Seton Medical Center
1850 Sullivan Avenue, Suite 540
Daly City, CA 94015
(650) 755-6900
View Map
Financing Options Available for those who qualify through Care Credit®, click here for more information.
Cataracts
» Cataract Surgery
» Presbyopia Correcting Cataract Lens Implants
» Crystalens®
» AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL
» ReZoom™ IOL by AMO®
» AcrySof® Toric IOL
Cataract Surgery
To view this, you need to install the Flash Player 9. Please go to here and download it.
A cataract is a yellow or opaque area in the lens of the eye and is generally associated with aging. Other causes of cataract are trauma, inflammation, and long-term steroid use. Cataracts develop slowly and painlessly and vision is gradually affected, causing blurry vision and difficulty with glare in lighted conditions.
There are no glasses or medicines to improve vision when a cataract is present. When cataracts cause vision loss that interferes with your work, lifestyle, or activities of daily living, it may be time to have them addressed surgically. Cataracts that prevent the diagnosis or treatment of another eye disease may also need to be removed, even when vision improvement is not expected.
Modern cataract surgery is almost always performed on an outpatient basis with local anesthesia (not general anesthesia). The cataract is removed with ultrasound, and the human lens is replaced by an intraocular lens implant. The incision is so small that usually no stitches are required. Most patients are able to resume their normal daily activities the day after surgery, and visual recovery occurs over the next several weeks.
During the few weeks after having cataract surgery, follow-up visits with your ophthalmologist are crucial. Postoperative checkups help your doctor monitor your vision recovery and healing as well as provide counseling regarding vision changes that occur throughout the recovery process.
Presbyopia Correcting Cataract Lens Implants
Over time, the eye loses its ability to focus at near distances. This is called presbyopia and is a normal aging process. This occurs progressively over time between the ages of 40 and 65. Presbyopia develops because the eye's natural lens becomes less flexible.
Clouding of the eye's natural lens is called a cataract. This is a common change seen in an aging eye. Usually, people who develop cataracts also have presbyopia.
Conventional Cataract Lens Implants
During cataract surgery, after the cataract is removed, a new and clear lens implant is placed inside the eye. These lens implants are safe and last a lifetime.
Conventional lens implants are monofocal. This means that they focus the eye for only one viewing distance. These lenses have been in use for many years, and they give excellent vision. After cataract surgery with a conventional lens implant, most people have their focus point set for distance vision and then use a pair of reading glasses to see things clearly at near. A thin pair of glasses may be required for the very sharpest vision possible at both distance and near.
Deluxe Accommodating Cataract Lens Implants
For most cataract patients, life without reading glasses or bifocals is something they experienced before age 50 and just dreamed about for many years. Today, advancements in cataract lens technology are turning those dreams into reality.
Lens implants are now available that can give us focus for multiple viewing distances. With these lens implants, vision can be clear at distance and near without the use of glasses. For people who desire freedom from glasses after cataract surgery, the Crystalens implant may be an excellent option. There are several different types of deluxe lens implants, and we have chosen the Crystalens as the deluxe implant that will offer our patients the highest quality of vision.
Contact Pacific Eye Specialists today about these exciting new lens implants that offer high tech visual recovery to patients with cataracts.
Crystalens®
Crystalens® was modeled after the human eye. Crystalens® is the only intraocular lens implant that bends and flexes just like your eye's natural lens. Like the natural lens, it uses the eye muscle to flex and accommodate in order to focus on objects in the environment at all distances. Crystalens® dynamically adjusts to your visual needs.
Crystalens® accommodating intraocular lens is made with hinges on each side that are designed to allow the optic, or the part of the lens that you see through, to move back and forth as you constantly change focus on images around you.
After a brief time of adaptation, it is expected that you will be able to perform most tasks, whether far, intermediate or near, without dependence on glasses.
AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL
The AcrySof® ReSTOR® intraocular lens (IOL) is designed to significantly reduce or even eliminate the need for glasses after cataract replacement surgery by providing clear vision distance and near vision.
Standard IOLs are referred to as monofocal; they have a flat, smooth surface and focus only at one range, usually distant. To achieve good middle and near vision, patients are required to wear glasses, usually bifocals.
The ReSTOR® IOL is a multifocal lens. Its surface looks like a series of circular steps, thicker in the center and thinner on the edges. Each level focuses light from a different range, from near in the center to distant on the edges. They combine to give the patient a full range of vision without glasses.
ReZoom™ IOL by AMO®
The ReZoom™ IOL was created by Advanced Medical Optics to provide cataract patients with clear vision without glasses and to improve vision in all light conditions.
The uniquely curved surface of the ReZoom™ IOL not only provides multiple focal points, but also distributes light so that vision in each focal zone is maximized for a range of light levels. Other IOLs offer multifocal vision, but the ReZoom™ is the first to offer the added advantage of superior light gathering ability.
Contact Pacific Eye Specialists today to learn more about ReSTOR® and ReZoom™ multifocal IOLs.
AcrySof® Toric Lens Implants for Correction of Cataract and Astigmatism
Current technology makes it possible to correct the cataracts that may be
clouding your vision – and the astigmatism that may be distorting your
vision – all at the same time.
What is Astigmatism?
Sometimes, the surface of the cornea is curved in such a way that vision
becomes distorted or blurred. Glasses are generally used to corrent astigmatism. A person who has both cataracts and corneal astigmatism will not regain high-quality distance vision free of glasses after cataract surgery unless the astigmatism is also corrected.
What is AcrySof® Toric IOL?
The AcrySof® Toric intraocular lens (IOL) replaces your eye’s natural
clouded lens during cataract surgery. In addition to clearing vision that was clouded by cataract, it also has the ability to reduce or eliminate corneal astigmatism at the same time. The result is typically improved distance vision, and less dependence on glasses. However, most patients still need corrective lenses for near and intermediate tasks.
The AcrySof® Toric lens also filters out harmful ultraviolet and blue light. With the AcrySof® Toric lens implant, your distance vision can be clear, giving you the power to see your best.
Contact us for further information.