Lens Replacement Procedure
What Is Lens Replacement/Lens Exchange?
Lens replacement, also known as refractive lens exchange, is a procedure where the natural lens in your eye is removed and replaced with a high-performance lifestyle lens that permanently corrects near- and far-sightedness or astigmatism. It also prevents the formation of cataracts and provides greater freedom from glasses and contacts.
Lens replacement is considered an elective procedure and is not covered by insurance. However, the benefits last a lifetime.
Refractive Lens Exchange
It is an unavoidable fact of life that aging and reading glasses go hand-in-hand. The good news is that there are vision correction options that may be able to reduce or eliminate your dependence on glasses. One of those options is refractive lens exchange (RLE), an approach to vision correction that uses proven surgical techniques to achieve dramatically improved vision for many patients.
What happens during RLE?
With this procedure, we replace your eye’s natural lens with a lens implant. Using a sophisticated artificial lens, we may be able to reduce your dependence on reading glasses or bifocals and improve your distance vision. While it sounds like a cutting-edge surgery, surgeons perform a similar procedure over two million times each year on cataract patients.
Refractive lens exchange bears many similarities to today’s cataract surgery. As a medical procedure, cataract surgery is one of safest and most frequently performed procedures today. Cataract surgery, like refractive lens exchange, involves the removal of the natural lens and its replacement with an artificial lens.
To replace the lens, the surgeon makes a micro incision (about 3 mm) under the cornea. The surgeon breaks up the lens using ultrasonic vibrations and then gently removes it from the eye. The natural lens is replaced by an “implantable” lens, which is inserted through the micro incision. Typically, the second eye will be corrected about two weeks after the first procedure is performed.
Am I a candidate for RLE?
The best candidates for refractive lens exchange are farsighted patients who need reading glasses or bifocals. These patients typically receive the best visual results after the procedure. This procedure may also be the right solution if you are too nearsighted or have corneas that are too thin for laser vision correction. It is also a viable alternative for those who want to eliminate their dependence on traditional or progressive bifocals and those who may be showing signs of developing cataracts.
Choose The Right Lifestyle Lens For You
Depending on your lifestyle and vision needs, there are a variety of lenses to choose from. Click on the link below to view the types of lenses available and talk with your doctor to determine the one best suited for your needs.
Astigmatism-Correcting Lifestyle Lenses Do you wear glasses? Now you may have another option.
Sometimes, the surface of the cornea is curved more like the surface of a football, with both flat and steep curves. This uneven curvature (astigmatism) distorts vision because light rays are not focused to a single spot on the retina. This can have a significant effect on the quality of vision.
An implantable astigmatism-correcting toric lens makes it possible to treat this condition. The toric IOL is implanted during surgery to provide quality distance vision independent of glasses and contact lenses.
Toric lenses can tremendously improve the quality of vision for those who have astigmatism, far more than is possible with a standard IOL. Ask your eye doctor for more information about astigmatism-correcting toric lens options.
Presbyopia-Correcting Lifestyle Lenses Are you looking to enjoy a full range of vision, while reducing or eliminating the need for glasses?
As we age, the eye's lens naturally begins to harden and becomes less flexible, preventing the lens from changing shape to focus on close-up images. This is called presbyopia. Multifocal lenses restore your ability to focus on near objects. The result is clearer vision at all distances without the aid of glasses and contacts.
Multifocal lenses and extended depth of focus lenses have been shown to offer an even greater level of magnification for near objects than other lenses. The multifocal IOL contains added magnification in different parts of the lens, which focuses light at different distances. This is what allows the eye to focus clearly without glasses at all distances.
Light Adjustable Lenses The First and Only Lens Adjusted After Surgery
Most IOLs are designed for a specific vision outcome before surgery and cannot be changed once they have been implanted. The Light Adjustable Lens (LAL) is the only IOL that can be customized to your vision needs after surgery.
LAL lenses are made of a special photosensitive material that changes the shape and power of the implanted lens in response to ultraviolet (UV) light. The light treatment procedure can be adjusted and performed multiple times to ensure the lens fits your vison needs. Once the desired outcome has been achieved, you will receive a final light treatment and no further changes will be needed. The lens will be set and UV light will no longer affect its shape.
Proven Safe and Effective
Lens replacement is the same procedure used in other vision correction surgeries and has a proven track record of safety and success. Recovery time is quick, usually within one to two days. There are few, if any, complications and the results are permanent.