CLEAR LENS EXCHANGE SPECIALISTS

When you have cataracts, one course of treatment removes the clouded natural lens and replaces it with an artificial lens, a premium IOL, that can correct refractive errors present in your eyes, reducing or eliminating the need for corrective eyewear.

Clear lens exchange addresses those who don’t have cataracts but who want the permanent vision correction that IOLs offer. If you’re a candidate for other procedures that correct refractive errors, those techniques are likely less invasive and more appropriate, but there are certain situations where the placement of an IOL may be the best vision correction option. You can discuss all alternatives with your eye expert at the Witlin Center for Advanced Eye Care.

Presbyopia is the common condition where you lose visual acuity due to the increasing stiffness of your eye’s natural lens. This is a common condition of aging that affects most people after the age of 40. However, the most common way of coping with the changes presbyopia creates is with reading glasses. Clear lens exchange adds a way to address presbyopia permanently.

Extreme hyperopia, or farsightedness, isn’t well suited for laser procedures such as LASIK and PRK, making it another candidate for refractive clear lens exchange. If you have a combination of hyperopia and presbyopia, clear lens exchange may be your only option to get away from glasses or contacts.

There are three general types of IOL, available for either clear lens exchange or cataract surgery. The only difference between the two is the cloudiness of the natural eye lens being replaced.

Single fixed-focus IOLs can correct vision problems at near, intermediate, or far ranges, to match your dominant need. You may still need corrective lenses for problems at other distances.

Multifocal IOLs create clear vision at more than one distance category, similar to the way bifocal glasses or contacts work.

Accommodating IOLs use the natural musculature of the eye to provide focus at different ranges, though using a fixed-focus IOL.

Every clear lens exchange situation is unique. There’s no universal approach, so the expertise of your Witlin Center for Advanced Eye Care surgeon is important to manage your expectations for the procedure.