The Clear Lens Exchange procedure, also known as refractive lens exchange, is a lens-based surgical procedure that can correct refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness and presbyopia and eliminates the need for cataract surgery later in life.
Presbyopia is the part of aging that makes you hold the restaurant menu or your phone a little further out so you can see it clearly – and the reason people over the age of 40 reach for reading glasses.
The Clear Lens Exchange procedure follows the same process as cataract surgery – where the natural lens of the eye is removed and replaced with an advanced intraocular lens (IOL) – but with Clear Lens Exchange the lens is replaced before natural aging has the chance to make that natural lens cloudy, aka developing a cataract. While Clear Lens Exchange could be considered a preemptive cataract procedure, the vision correction results are much more immediate.
“Clear Lens Exchange is somewhat of an under the radar procedure – many people don’t even know that this vision correction option exists, much less that they could be a candidate. Clear Lens Exchange is so great because it can get patients out of glasses and contacts – even the need for those pesky reading glasses.” –Dr. Eva Kim, Medical Director, ICON Eyecare
With the advancements in ocular lens technology, patients who opt for Clear Lens Exchange have a variety of choices when it comes to their IOLs. Depending on refractive error and the visual outcome the patient is aiming for, ICON Eyecare surgeons can match a patient with one of their 6 advanced lens options, including the RxSight Light Adjustable Lenses, Clareon Vivity and Vivity Toric, and Clareon PanOptix and PanOptix Toric.
“I have patients come to me and say they’ve been told they aren’t a candidate for LASIK and that they’ve resigned themselves to just dealing with glasses and contacts until they get age-related cataracts. When I tell them about Clear Lens Exchange, the first question they ask is – ‘How soon can we get started?’”
Dr. Kim understands the importance of matching a patient with the lens that will best fit their eye health and their lifestyle, “I make an effort to customize vision outcomes according to my patient’s daily activities and preferences. Some have a preference toward reading, others toward distance. The careful selection of lenses, customized to their lifestyle, makes all the difference!”
When most people think about surgical vision correction, they immediately think of LASIK. And while laser vision correction like LASIK can be a good option for some patients, it’s not the end-all, be-all in vision correction. Dr. Eva Kim, ICON Eyecare’s Front Range Medical Director, says that Clear Lens Exchange is another tool in the toolbox to maintain and improve eye health.
Patients who have been told they aren’t a LASIK candidate for one reason or another still have options to eliminate their need for glasses, contacts, and even reading glasses. As a medical ophthalmology practice, ICON Eyecare offers several vision correction options, including Clear Lens Exchange, LASIK, PRK, and EVO ICL. ICON’s team of expert eye care providers can help you understand your options and put a customized care plan together to meet your needs.
Book a free Vision Correction consultation at ICON Eyecare and discover which vision correction procedure fits YOUR eye health and vision needs.
