Toric Lens Implant for One Eye

Question: I had a cataract removed from my right eye approximately 8 years ago now my left eye needs cataract surgery. My question is my cataract surgeon offered me the toric lens les implant for astigmatism. But I don't have it in the right eye and I have astigmatism in both eyes. I need glasses to see far with my right eye after I had my cataract removed.  So would the toric lens be a benefit or not?

Answer: It is difficult to answer the question as you do not state the amount of astigmatism that you have remaining in the right eye. If you have an amount and orientation of astigmatism in the right eye that is correctable with Limbal Relaxing Incisions (LRI)-a minor procedure-when you have the toric lens implant in the left eye after your cataract surgery it is quite probable that you would not need to wear glasses to see at distance. Under these circumstances have a toric lens implant n the left eye and the astigmatism correction procedure in the right has some real advantages. If however there is no chance of correcting the residual astigmatism in the right eye, the advantages of having a toric lens might be diminished as you would still need to wear glasses even with the toric lens as the right eye would require correction.

Important Note: The information presented on the About Cataract Surgery Blog or provided in response to a request for information in the Ask Cataract Surgeons section on aboutcataractsurgery.com is not intended to diagnose or treat eye problems, eye conditions or eye diseases including appropriateness of treatment, risks, complications or side effects as related to Cataracts, Cataract Surgery or Lens Implants. In particular a response to an inquiry made on the Ask Cataract Surgeons section of aboutcataractsurgery.com is not meant to take the place of the professional medical care provided by your eye doctor, ophthalmologist and Cataract Surgeon. Contacting us via e-mail or any other means is not a substitute for medical care.

Astigmatism Toric Lens Implant Cost

Question: What is the cost for astigmatism toric lens implants? What would be a general idea of the cost of range of what I should pay for toric IOL implants? It seems like they are very expensive. What should I expect to pay if I opt for this?

Answer: When you have astigmatism before having cataract surgery you need to realize that it needs to be corrected or else you just won’t see as well as you should after the cataract operation. There are three ways to correct astigmatism after cataract surgery.

First, you can simply have glasses with the astigmatism correction.

Second, you can have an additional eye surgery procedure called Limbal Relaxing Incisions (LRI).

Third, you can have an astigmatism correcting toric lens implant. ALL three have cost associated with them. Eyeglasses cost several hundred dollars and needs to be replaced every so often. LRI can also cost several hundred dollars and may or may not be covered by insurance and NOT by Medicare-and it may need to be enhanced at some future point. Astigmatism correcting toric lens implants-including the extra measurements and calculations and testing that is required for them-can cost between $1100-$1800 per eye depending on the amount of extra testing required as well as the individual cataract surgeon fee. Each cataract surgeon sets their own fee but in general that is the approximate range throughout the U.S. Astigmatism correcting toric lens implants are the most natural and stable and permanent way of correcting astigmatism with the best potential vision after cataract surgery.

Important Note: The information presented on the About Cataract Surgery Blog or provided in response to a request for information in the Ask Cataract Surgeons section on aboutcataractsurgery.com is not intended to diagnose or treat eye problems, eye conditions or eye diseases including appropriateness of treatment, risks, complications or side effects as related to Cataracts, Cataract Surgery or Lens Implants. In particular a response to an inquiry made on the Ask Cataract Surgeons section of aboutcataractsurgery.com is not meant to take the place of the professional medical care provided by your eye doctor, ophthalmologist and Cataract Surgeon. Contacting us via e-mail or any other means is not a substitute for medical care.

Cataract Surgery & Astigmatism Correction

Question: My mom is scheduled to cataract surgery in one of her eyes and her cataract surgeon insists on correcting her astigmatism at the same time as cataract removal. Besides extra cost for astigmatism correction I would like to know is this really necessary as she is 76 years old? How safe it is considering her age? Does it make sense to do only cataract removal without correcting astigmatism or we should go for this extra procedure?

Answer: In order to have the best results and vision after cataract surgery, patients who have astigmatism need to have it corrected. It can be corrected in eyeglasses-that you will have to purchase, probably several times over the  year, it can be corrected with a second surgical procedure called Limbal Relaxing Incisions (LRI), or it can be corrected with a toric lens implant. Both the LRI and the toric lens implant provide your mother with less dependence on glasses for seeing clearly at a distance which is a safer and more comfortable correction in terms of mobility. She could however wear glasses if the astigmatism wasn’t too bad and didn’t limit her mobility. I am sure you would NOT want to see your mom take a fall and break a hip due to uncorrected astigmatism blurring her vision. So, yes it needs to be corrected and you should follow the advice of her cataract surgeon.

Important Note: The information presented on the About Cataract Surgery Blog or provided in response to a request for information in the Ask Cataract Surgeons section on aboutcataractsurgery.com is not intended to diagnose or treat eye problems, eye conditions or eye diseases including appropriateness of treatment, risks, complications or side effects as related to Cataracts, Cataract Surgery or Lens Implants. In particular a response to an inquiry made on the Ask Cataract Surgeons section of aboutcataractsurgery.com is not meant to take the place of the professional medical care provided by your eye doctor, ophthalmologist and Cataract Surgeon. Contacting us via e-mail or any other means is not a substitute for medical care.