Your natural lens is cloudy, so it will be removed. If you did not have a lens implant put in, your vision would remain permanently out of focus. The technology for lens implants has been constantly improving for 70 years. There are several options when it comes to which lens implant would best fit your needs, and not every patient is a good candidate for each type. Thankfully, Dr. Karen Grove and Dr. Suzanna Billinghurst will take great care in helping you determine which lens option will be best for your lifestyle.

• The spherical monofocal lens implant is usually covered by insurance and will allow you to see clearly at one distance – either far away or up close. Most patients choose to have their clearest vision in the distance and rely on reading glasses for near work like computer use and reading. With this lens implant, some patients will still need full-time corrective lenses to enjoy their sharpest vision at all distances.

• Another lens option is the “extended depth of focus” lens. Our doctors often use the Symfony lens, which allows you to have a continuous range of high-quality vision with excellent distance and intermediate focus and improved near vision. These types of lenses are not currently covered by insurance and would be an additional cost to the patient. Our surgical counseling team will gladly demonstrate the effect on the vision that a typical patient experiences, go over a financial estimate with you to help determine what your out of pocket cost might be, and review programs that might help you budget for this type of lens.

There are also lenses that correct astigmatism- a common vision problem. Astigmatism is an imperfect shape of the front of the eye that leads to blurry vision. It can often be corrected with glasses, contacts, or a lens implant called a toric lens. Toric lenses are not currently covered by insurance, but for patients that rely heavily on glasses to correct the misshape of their eye, they are well worth the cost to not wear glasses any longer.