Refractive Lens Exchange.
For patients over 40 who want to stop reaching for reading glasses. RLE replaces your eye's natural lens with a premium lens implant, correcting your vision and preventing cataracts from ever forming.
- Premium lens implant selected for your eyes
- Corrects vision and prevents future cataracts
- One procedure per eye, typically days apart
- 0% financing for 24 months through CareCredit
Refractive Lens Exchange replaces the natural lens inside your eye with an artificial lens implant, so you can see clearly at the distances that matter without glasses.
It is the same procedure as modern cataract surgery, with one difference: it is done by choice, before a cataract forms, to correct vision. The surgeon removes the eye's natural lens and replaces it with a premium intraocular lens (IOL) chosen for your prescription and your daily life. The implant stays in place permanently.
Because the natural lens is what eventually clouds into a cataract, replacing it now means you will never develop a cataract in that eye later. For many patients over 40, RLE solves both the reading-glasses problem and the future-cataract problem in a single step.
RLE tends to fit patients who have aged past the point where LASIK is the best answer.
You may be a good candidate if you:
- Are 40 or older and depend on reading glasses or bifocals
- Are farsighted, or have a prescription too high for LASIK
- Want lasting freedom from glasses at multiple distances
- Are starting to notice early lens changes, but not yet a cataract
- Have healthy eyes with no active disease
- Would rather not repeat vision correction as you age
Younger patients with lower prescriptions are often better served by LASIK, SMILE, or an EVO ICL. A consultation is the way to know which procedure fits your eyes.
RLE, LASIK, and cataract surgery.
RLE vs LASIK
LASIK reshapes the cornea, the clear front of the eye. It works best for younger patients with a stable prescription. RLE replaces the lens inside the eye, which makes it a better fit after 40, when the natural lens stiffens and reading glasses appear. LASIK cannot fix that stiffening. RLE can.
RLE vs cataract surgery
They are the same operation. The difference is timing and reason. Cataract surgery is done when a cataract has clouded the lens enough to affect daily life, and it is typically covered by insurance. RLE is elective, done earlier by choice to correct vision, and is generally not covered. Either way, once your natural lens is replaced, a cataract can never form in that eye.
The lens you choose shapes your result. Your surgeon walks you through the options at your consultation.
Premium intraocular lenses can correct distance vision, reading vision, or both, and can also correct astigmatism. Some patients choose a lens that gives them a full range of focus so they can read, work at a computer, and drive without glasses. Others prioritize crisp distance vision. The right choice depends on how you spend your day.
We use the same premium lens technology in RLE that we use in cataract surgery, including the Light Adjustable Lens, which can be fine-tuned after surgery.
About fifteen minutes per eye.
Consultation & lens plan
A full exam measures your eyes and reviews your goals. Together you choose the lens that fits how you live, whether that is reading, screens, distance, or all three.
The procedure
The procedure takes about fifteen minutes per eye. You are awake and comfortable under numbing drops. The natural lens is removed and the new implant is set in place.
Recovery
Most patients are back to normal activity within a day or two, with vision sharpening over the following weeks as both eyes settle in.
RLE is an elective procedure, so it is generally not covered by insurance. We keep the cost clear and offer financing.
Your price depends on the lens technology you choose, which is why we quote it at your consultation rather than guessing online. Qualified patients can finance RLE at 0% for 24 months through CareCredit, and HSA or FSA funds can be applied.
Because RLE also removes the need for future cataract surgery, many patients weigh it against decades of glasses, contacts, and the cataract procedure they would eventually need anyway.
Other ways to correct your vision.
Three Central Florida locations.
Questions, answered.
What is Refractive Lens Exchange?
RLE replaces your eye's natural lens with a permanent artificial lens implant to correct your vision. It is the same procedure as cataract surgery, done electively before a cataract forms.
How is RLE different from cataract surgery?
The operation is identical. Cataract surgery is done when a cataract clouds the lens and is usually covered by insurance. RLE is done by choice to correct vision and is generally not covered.
Will I still get cataracts after RLE?
No. A cataract forms in the eye's natural lens. Once that lens has been replaced with an implant, a cataract can never develop in that eye.
Am I too young or too old for RLE?
RLE is most common for patients over 40 who depend on reading glasses. There is no strict upper age limit. Younger patients with lower prescriptions are often better suited to LASIK or an EVO ICL.
Is RLE permanent?
Yes. The lens implant is designed to stay in your eye for life and does not need to be replaced or maintained.
Does insurance cover RLE?
Because RLE is elective, it is generally not covered by insurance. We offer 0% financing for 24 months through CareCredit, and you can use HSA or FSA funds toward the cost.
Ready to put the reading glasses down?
Book a consultation to find out whether Refractive Lens Exchange is right for your eyes.