Reducing reliance on glassesGold Coast & Tweed Heads

Dr Weaver offers refractive lens exchange (RLE) for people over 40 who want to rely less on glasses or contact lenses. Once reading vision starts to fade with age, RLE can correct both distance and reading focus. This is why it may suit some people over 40 better than laser eye surgery. Laser eye surgery is still a good option for many people, and Dr Weaver will talk with you about which approach suits your eyes.

Between about 40 and 50, most people find that reading gets harder. You hold things further away, struggle with small print, or need reading glasses for the first time. This is called presbyopia. The natural lens inside the eye slowly stiffens and can no longer change focus between far and near.

Laser eye surgery does not fix this. It reshapes the front of the eye to correct distance vision, but it cannot make the lens focus up close again. People over 40 who have laser surgery for distance will usually still need reading glasses, unless one eye is deliberately set for reading (monovision). For some people in their 40s and 50s, this makes RLE a more complete option.

• Helps with reading as well as distance: the stiffened natural lens is replaced with a lens designed to focus at more than one distance.
• Long-lasting: the lens implant does not change with age, although other parts of the eye can.
• No cataract later in that eye: the natural lens has been removed, so a cataract cannot form.
• Suits stronger prescriptions: people who are too short-sighted or long-sighted for laser surgery can often have RLE.
• Corrects astigmatism at the same time, with a toric lens
• No tissue is removed from the cornea, which matters if your cornea is thin

• People aged 40 and over, especially those who already need reading glasses
• People who are quite short-sighted, long-sighted or astigmatic
• People who are not suitable for laser eye surgery
• People nearing cataract age who would like to deal with their glasses and future cataract at the same time
• People wanting a long-term way to rely less on glasses

The lens you choose shapes the result. Dr Weaver offers the full range: multifocal lenses for the widest range of focus, extended depth of focus lenses for distance and middle vision with fewer halos, and toric versions that also correct astigmatism. The right lens depends on how you live, your work, what you need to see and your eye measurements.

Try the lens guide on the cataract surgery page for a starting point, then talk through the options with Dr Weaver.

RLE is done in the same way as cataract surgery. Each eye is done separately as day surgery, with the eye numbed and sedation, about 1 to 2 weeks apart. The operation usually takes about 10 minutes for each eye. Recovery is quick, and most people notice clearer vision within the first few days.

RLE is performed at Miami Private Hospital and Pacific Private Hospital on the Gold Coast, and at Tweed Day Surgery in Tweed Heads. Because it is a choice to rely less on glasses, private health insurance does not cover it and it is self-funded. You will be given a full written estimate, including the surgeon, anaesthetist and hospital fees, at your appointment.