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It's an unavoidable fact
of life that aging and reading glasses go
hand-in-hand. For most people, it's a fact
they would just as soon ignore. The good
news is that today 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, a new approach to vision
correction that uses proven surgical
techniques to achieve dramatically improved
vision for many patients.
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, in fact, 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.
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. |
