Most patients over the age of 45 who are nearsighted or farsighted are also presbyopic. Presbyopia is a condition that prevents the eye's natural lens from changing shape, disallowing one to see clearly for both distance and near vision. Losing this ability is called 'loss of accommodation.' In order to restore accommodation, the accommodating IOL is designed to provide a continuous range of vision for distance, intermediate, near, and everything in-between. This IOL is engineered with a hinge - designed to allow the optic, the part of the IOL through which you see, to move back and forth, which changes the focus from near to far.
Millions of eyes have received IOL implants when undergoing cataract surgery, using the same highly successful surgical techniques used to implant the AIOL. Performed as an outpatient procedure, the natural lens is removed using ultrasonic vibrations through a very small micro-incision and replaced through that same incision with the AIOL. You will remain comfortable as the eye is completely anesthetized. Many patients report improvement in their distance vision almost immediately, and your intermediate vision will improve in a week or two. The more you try to read without reading glasses, the quicker you will be able to read without them. One eye is done at a time, and the second eye is usually done in a week or two.
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