Refractive Lens Exchange
Do you struggle reading a menu at your favorite restaurant? Are reading glasses part of your daily life to see things up close?
Thanks to a procedure like refractive lens exchange, you can stop worrying about presbyopia and start living life again! Central Florida Eye Specialists is excited to offer this procedure to our patients, helping them improve their vision and lives.
What is Refractive Lens Exchange?
Refractive lens exchange (RLE) is a procedure that improves the vision of patients with presbyopia. Presbyopia is an age-related eye condition that occurs when the natural lens loses its flexibility due to aging. As a result, it becomes more challenging to see up close. Refractive lens exchange is a vision correction procedure that can correct refractive errors, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, as well as presbyopia.
Refractive lens exchange removes the natural lens from the eye and replaces it with an artificial lens called an intraocular lens (IOL). Intraocular lenses ensure that you can see clearly after the procedure.
Many kinds of IOLs are available, including some that can improve your vision at different distances and help you see more clearly. Before undergoing refractive lens exchange, one of the Central Florida Eye Specialists ophthalmologists will assess your eyesight and vision to ensure you’re a good candidate for the procedure.
Why is Refractive Lens Exchange Worth Considering?
Refractive lens exchange could be worth considering if you want a more permanent way to correct your vision than depending on reading glasses. Some of the many reasons to consider this procedure at Central Florida Eye Specialists include:
Ability to Improve Your Vision
Choosing RLE will improve your vision and ability to see clearly. Many patients reduce their dependence on visual aids, especially reading glasses, after refractive lens exchange.
However, besides treating presbyopia, RLE ensures that cataracts will not be a problem as you age. Crisp, clear vision can be yours, thanks to refractive lens exchange!
Treat Presbyopia and Other Vision Conditions
Part of what makes refractive lens exchange such an attractive procedure is it can address and treat a broad range of vision conditions. Whether you’re ready to treat presbyopia permanently, have refractive errors that make your vision not as clear as it could be, or wish to pursue vision correction options even if you’re not a good LASIK candidate, you and your surgeon at Central Florida Eye Specialists can tailor the procedure to your visual needs.
Improve Your Life
When you no longer need to depend on visual aids, you can improve your life with refractive lens exchange. Wouldn’t you love going to dinner without relying on reading glasses to see the menu?
Whether you want to hike outdoors or spend more time baking with your grandchildren, RLE will improve your life.
What to Expect During Refractive Lens Exchange
Before undergoing refractive lens exchange at Central Florida Eye Specialists, you’ll receive numbing eye drops to ensure you’re comfortable throughout the procedure. You may also receive sedation if you’re nervous.
RLE is an outpatient procedure, meaning you’ll go home after it’s over. Your surgeon will begin by making a small incision in your cornea, which will give them access to your natural lens.
Once access to the natural lens occurs, it’s removed and replaced with an intraocular lens through the same incision. Your surgeon will position your IOL inside your eye before closing the incision. Sutures and stitches aren’t needed, as the incision heals independently.
Recovering After Refractive Lens Exchange
Due to the numbing eye drops received before your RLE procedure, you cannot drive yourself home. You must find a friend or family member to drive you home.
Your vision may be blurry or continue changing after the procedure, but this should improve. You may notice discomfort as the numbing eye drops wear off, but you can control this using over-the-counter pain relievers.
You’ll be required to attend follow-up appointments in the days after your RLE procedure. These appointments allow us to monitor your eyes as they heal and look for any signs of complications or infection.
After RLE, you may find it takes a few days to get used to your new IOLs, but you should also start seeing improvements in your vision. If you chose a premium IOL, you may not need to depend on reading glasses or other visual aids.
