RLE
Refractice Lens
Exchange
RLE is eye surgery for vision correction that is different from laser procedures like LASIK. It uses eye surgery with lens implantation to get rid of the need for glasses and contacts for distance and near. RLE stands for Refractice Lens Exchange.
Golfer Gary Player
Professional Golfer Gary Player is just one of the thousands who have benefited from the advanced REZOOM Multifocal Lens. Perhaps you can too.
Why May RLE Be Better For Me?
Laser procedures such as LASIK get rid of contacts and glasses by correcting your distance vision only. This may be adequate for patients in their 20’s and 30’s who can still read up close without glasses. Once a patient can no longer read without glasses (Presbyopia), RLE becomes the better option because it corrects vision for distance, intermediate, and near using Premium Lens implants.
RLE also removes your natural lens at the time of surgery. This means that you will never develop cataracts in later life!
What If I Can Still Read Up Close Without Glasses?
Depending on your age and prescription, after LASIK, you may lose your ability to read up close or end up needing reading glasses much sooner.
So RLE may still be the better procedure for you. The eye surgeons at Westlake Eye Specialists are happy to help you decide which procedure is better for you.
The Procedure
Millions of eyes have received intraocular lens implants when undergoing cataract surgery, and RLE uses the same highly successful surgical technique:
- RLE is performed as an outpatient surgery.
- Numbing drops to the eye and mild sedation are all that’s needed to undergo the 15-30 minute procedure.
- Micro-incisions are made and require no stitches. The natural lens is replaced by the foldable premium intraocular lens, which spontaneously unfolds into a permanent position.
Technology
- Multifocal Lens – RESTOR, Tecnis MF, REZOOM – correct vision for distance, intermediate, and up close.
- Accommodating Lens – CRYSTALENS- corrects vision for distance, intermediate, and partially up close.
- Acrysof Toric Lens – corrects vision for distance and astigmatism, can be used to give up-close vision as well.
Arcuate Incisions
Occasionally patients have some degree of corneal astigmatism requiring additional correction. Arcuate Incisions can be made on the surface of the cornea to reduce astigmatism at the same time RLE is performed.
After RLE
Patients go home soon after the procedure to relax for the rest of the day and most resume their normal activities within a day or two. Vision usually recovers within the first few days. RLE is usually performed on the second eye several weeks after the first procedure.
The eye surgeons and Staff of Westlake Eye Specialists always strive to make your entire experience as smooth and informed as possible. Our surgery coordinator and technicians are very knowledgeable regarding RLE and can tend to any of your questions or needs.
