Medical Eye Center | What is a Toric Contact Lens? | Medford (2024)

FAQs

Medical Eye Center | What is a Toric Contact Lens? | Medford? ›

Toric

One of the problems with any toric lens is that they might shift position in the early days after surgery, reducing the desired effect. Sometimes the cataract incision changes the astigmatism from the preoperative measurements, thus changing the effect of the toric lens you are given.

It can minimize the reliance on glasses for distance vision after surgery. Toric lenses have a 98% chance of offering 0.75 diopters or less and 94% chance of delivering 0.5 diopters or less.

Defining it by the presence of any astigmatism (0.25DC) naturally results in a higher number than using a minimum level of astigmatism of at least 0.75D since that's the amount of astigmatism ECPs typically consider to be the minimum that requires a soft toric design.

Although astigmatism might infrequently increase slightly in some eyes with age, it won't go away on its own and the benefit of the TORIC single focus lens implant should therefore be life-long.

If your lens is moving around on the eye, it may make your vision blurry with contacts, especially for those fine folks with astigmatism (where the lens of your eye isn't perfectly round). If you feel like your lenses are moving or rotating, an eye doctor may need to adjust the fit of your contact lens.

When it comes to toric lenses, any rotation in the lens might make your vision blurry again. Some toric lenses offer weighting at the bottom of the lens to make sure the contact assumes the appropriate alignment after a blink or two. This is called ballasting.

Toric Lenses – Clear Vision For Patients With Astigmatism

If you choose cataract surgery with a Toric, astigmatism correcting IOL, it's likely that you'll be able to see clearly at a distance without glasses after your surgery.

Utilizing a special toric lens will add additional costs to your procedure that your personal insurance or Medicare might not cover. Specific costs will depend on the surgeon and their billing costs. It is important to discuss with your healthcare provider potential out-of-pocket costs for the procedure.

Possible complications associated with toric lenses include incorrect lens selection from either incorrect measurement or calculations, improper lens placement from inaccurate surgical marking or implantation technique, and postoperative lens rotation resulting in inaccurate alignment.

Who is a good candidate for a toric lens? ›

Age-related cataracts with corneal astigmatism: Toric IOLs are indicated in patients with preexisting corneal astigmatism of >1.00 D and a significant grade of cataract planned for cataract surgery. [15] Patients who desire spectacle-free near vision can be counseled for multifocal toric IOLs.

If you have astigmatism, you may have heard that you have “hard-to-fit” eyes. People with mild astigmatism might be able to wear normal contact lenses, but you'll typically need specialty lenses if your astigmatism is more severe.

Advanced types of cataract surgery, like laser-assisted cataract surgery or procedures using advanced toric IOL, can average about $4,000 to $6,000 out-of-pocket, per eye. Fortunately, Medicare insurance covers standard cataract surgery for people who are 65 years and over.

Most patients adjust to their Toric IOLs rapidly as their vision improves days after having cataract surgery. The cataract surgery can cause blurriness that usually improves after a few days. Most patients enjoy clearer, crisper vision through their new toric intraocular lens, within days after having cataract surgery.

The most common concern is the postoperative misalignment of the IOL, which can be prevented by washing the viscoelastic from the anterior chamber and the capsular bag to avoid postoperative rotation.

The only difference is the type of refractive error that they correct. If your eyes have significant corneal astigmatism (50% of the population) then a toric IOL is the better option. If you don't have astigmatism then a non-toric IOL is the right lens for you. Toric IOLs are under-utilised.

Toric contact lenses are often the best choice for contact lens wearers with an astigmatism, because they're specifically designed to address the problem. The special shape of a toric lens creates different refractive, or focusing, powers that can help correct either a corneal or a lenticular astigmatism.

Can my new implants be fine-tuned after cataract surgery? Absolutely. This involves a short operation, in which a second lens implant – called a piggyback implant – is inserted on top of the already existing lens implant. The piggyback lens allows us to modify either the toricity or/and power of the original implant.