Dr. Michael Walker specializes in advanced lens replacement. Once you decide to have cataract surgery, you will have a choice to replace your clouded lens with either a traditional single-focus lens or an advanced multiple-focus lens implant ( multifocal IOL ) that provides a fuller range of vision.
Older-style lens implants provide clear vision at a single focus point, usually in the distance. Newer lens implants provide a broader range of vision, improving your sight for a fuller range of near, intermediate and distance objects. Most patients who choose this lens type for their surgery do so because they’d like to be free of glasses the majority of their day.
Until recently, cataract patients had few choices of implants used to restore their vision after cataract surgery. With the advanced lens implants offered at Wyoming Eye Surgeons, you now have choices based on your individual visual needs and lifestyle.
Multifocal lens implants, such as PanOptix IOL and Vivity IOL, provide good vision at all distances and are available for Wyoming Eye Surgeons patients in Sheridan. Following a thorough cataract evaluation with Dr. Walker, one of these advanced lens implants may be chosen to replace your eye’s clouded natural lens ( cataract ) during cataract surgery. In addition to restoring clear vision after cataract surgery, multifocal lens implants also treat presbyopia, or difficulty focusing up-close due to aging eyes.
Astigmatism is a condition where the cornea is shaped more like a football, rather than round like a basketball. The irregular shape causes light rays to scatter when entering the eye, resulting in blurry vision instead of providing a single focal point. There are two ways we correct astigmatism during cataract surgery. The preferred method is inserting a Toric IOL, a lens implant specifically designed to correct astigmatism, to replace your cataract.
If your astigmatism does not fall within the treatable range for an astigmatism-correcting lens implant, Dr. Walker may choose to also perform Limbal Relaxing Incisions. In this procedure, performed at the same time as cataract surgery, Dr. Walker will make a precisely positioned, tiny surgical incision. This is a self-sealing technique, so no stitches are needed. After the LRI procedure, the cornea’s shape is rounded, reducing your dependence on glasses after surgery.