If you've been told you aren't a good candidate for LASIK, here's another option. Visual acuity can be corrected in different ways. LASIK does it by changing the shape of the corneas. Clear lens extraction and replacement targets not the cornea, but the lens itself.

How does the eye's lens work?

The job of the lens is to focus images onto the retina, the inside back surface of the eye. From there, the images travel as electrical information through the optic nerve at the back of each eye, to the brain, where that information is interpreted.

As we age, the lens loses some of its flexibility. Tiny muscles are attached to the lens, which in our younger days are able to focus it on closer objects or distant ones easily, all images being in clear focus. This is called Accommodation; the lens accommodates to distance and near vision.

But as the lens becomes more stiff, it doesn't accommodate so well and our near vision becomes blurry.

A new Intraocular Lens (IOL)

We can remove your old lens and replace it with a new IOL. First your eye is measured very carefully using ultrasound equipment. These measurements are entered into a sophisticated formula so as to calculate which power each eye needs.

Some IOLs don't accommodate, but are set at a fixed focal length. Thus you can choose one that will give you good distance vision for driving, or other outdoor activities. Or you can choose a short-distance IOL which will help with reading or computer work.

Multi-focal lenses

Multi-focal lenses are Intra-Ocular Lenses (IOLs) that allow patients to see both near and far without the use of glasses or contacts. Unlike past IOLs, multi-focal lenses bring objects at multiple distances into focus. AcrySof ReStor multi-focal lenses accomplish this by having various zones on the IOL that bring near, intermediate, and far objects into focus. ReZoom multi-focal lenses use the amount of light entering your eye to bring objects into focus. The Crystalens accomplishes this by moving within the eye.

Monovision

For some people, the best solution is to have a near vision lens in one eye and a far distance lens in the other eye. After the initial adjustment time, this can work quite well, providing both types of vision.

How is the procedure done?

It's much like cataract surgery, except that the lens being removed isn't cloudy, as it is when a cataract has formed.

It's an outpatient procedure done with local anesthetic. Using a microscope, the eye surgeon carefully makes a tiny incision, and then using ultrasound, fragments then removes the lens. The new lens is inserted through the same tiny incision, and the incision closed.

This takes about 15 minutes

What is the recovery like?

· The surgeon will put a protective shield on your eye and prescribe some eye drops

· Your improved vision will be present the next day

· You can go home as soon as the procedure is finished

· Avoid rubbing or pressing on your eye

· There'll be a couple of follow-up visits

Don't settle for mediocre LASIK. Trust your eyes to the LASIK leaders with a commitment to technology.

Contact Dr. Amr Fawzy today for your personal and complimentary eye care consultation.