Lens replacement, also known as clear lens exchange and refractive lens exchange, is a permanent corrective procedure for people, typically in their 50s -70s, who want to gain greater freedom from their spectacles. Laser eye surgery can sometimes be inappropriate for patients in this age group, lens replacement allowing people a hitherto unavailable treatment option.

Both short- and long-sightedness can be effectively treated with lens replacement, with there being no limits to the extremes of treatment ranges available, quite different to the narrow range of treatment available with laser eye surgery. Astigmatism can also be treated at the same time, giving many people the best vision that they have ever had. 
 
Lens replacement utilises the same, tried and tested technique used in modern, keyhole cataract surgery, which millions of patients worldwide have undergone with superb results. After careful removal of the native lens of the eye – effectively and permanently preventing a cataract forming in your eye – a new lens is inserted which corrects the eye’s spectacle prescription from within. If appropriate, a sophisticated multifocal lens then allows you to see clearly for both distance (e.g. driving) and reading vision – without glasses. 

Patients with cataract can also benefit from such premium multifocal lenses, although this is a technology that is not usually available on the NHS.
 
If you have already had cataract surgery but would like to do away with your reading glasses, it’s not too late either. Insertion of a special, 'piggyback' multifocal lens may allow you both clear distance and near vision without glasses. Conversely, ongoing dependence on glasses after cataract surgery can also be treated with either laser or a piggyback lens.
 
Exact costs will vary between patients, as some will require specially made bespoke lenses to correct astigmatism.