Life is a lot clearer today.
Thanks to technologies like light ray-tracing, EVO ICL implantable lenses and Refractive Lens Exchange, patients have a richer variety of choices when trying to attain perfect vision. More specifically, at Kugler Vision patients are educated on seven modern vision correction surgeries that will improve their near vision, far vision, astigmatism and cataracts.
“Over 85% of patients qualify for at least one of these technologies,” said Lance Kugler, M.D., founder, refractive surgeon and physician CEO at Kugler Vision. “For anyone who’s been told they haven’t been a good candidate for LASIK in the past, they might be interested to know that there are many other procedures available to them today.
“With modern techniques we can fix far and close vision now,” he said. “Back in the early days of vision correction surgery, we didn’t have great solutions to fix close vision. So we’d just fix distance vision knowing that as people got older, they would need reading glasses and bifocals. At the time, we just didn’t have any way to correct for near vision. With new options in vision correction procedures, we have great ways to fix near vision now.”
Goodbye reading glasses.
Kugler said the biggest challenge he faces is explaining to a patient who has been in glasses their entire life how their life will change after they have their vision fixed with an advanced vision corrective procedure. “That’s our biggest challenge, because you can’t take a procedure for a test drive like you can a car.
“It’s not just an ‘isn’t this nice, I don’t have to wear glasses anymore’ type of thing,” he said. “These procedures actually change how people interact with the world. A patient doesn’t understand that concept until they undergo the procedure. And once it’s done, they say, ‘That was the best thing I’ve ever done.’”
Two of the fastest-growing procedures that Kugler Vision offers involve intraocular lens implants in Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE) for people over age 50, and EVO ICL (implantable collamer lens) for younger people. RLE replaces the eye’s natural lens with a custom intraocular lens that corrects near vision, far vision and astigmatism, and eliminates the development of cataracts. The EVO ICL is a removable lens technology that corrects myopia and astigmatism without reshaping the cornea.
According to Kugler, the average person sees their eye doctor every year or two for a new prescription for glasses or contacts, typically resulting in a recurring cycle of expense. Vision correction offers a permanent solution that breaks this cycle and fits a patient’s needs at their given stage of life.
“Vision changes over the course of someone’s life. At different ages, there are different needs,” he said. “When you’re younger, you need distance vision corrected because near vision works fine. As we get older, however, that lens loses flexibility, so different solutions like RLE are used to fix the problem.”
To that end, Kugler said, when they are fixing someone’s vision at age 25, “we are constantly thinking, how will this procedure affect their future sight and what is the best way to make sure they are seeing just as well when they are 50 as when they are 25? We take the lifelong approach to treatment.”
To see your options, please visit kuglervision.com.
