I am a 62 yr old male living in the USA. I need cater act surgery on both eyes and gave astigmatism in both. Mr eye care professional recomended the symfony toric. He said in 98 % of cases, no glasses will be needed except for fine print. While that sounds great, he wants an additional whopping fee of 3500.00 per eye! From what I have read elsewhere, this type of lens should be up to about 2500.00 per eye. That said, I was not savvy enough to ask if this surgery was laser assisted and if some of that cost was attributable to a ladik type surgery at the same time. Your thoughts are appreciated.
I'm no expert but sounds to me like he wants to both do surgery for the cataracts and do surgery to correct the astigmatism. Those are two different things as well as surgical procedures. I think that's why his prices are so high. You can chose to do the cataract surgery and forego the astigmatism correction.He should quote you accordingly. Most insurance,including Medicare,covers cataract surgery but not astigmatism correction.
I had cataracts as well as life-long astigmatism. Fortunately, I didn't need cataract surgery until I was over age 65 and Medicare paid for it. Medicare will NOT pay for the procedure to fix the astigmatism. My ophthalmologist said that would cost me about $2K per eye out-of-pocket. Anyways, since I'd worn glasses all my adult life, I decided to keep my astigmatism and just get a new Rx for glasses after cataract surgery. That was 4 years ago and I am very pleased with my decision. I got the monofocal lenses in each eye, both set for distance. The new glasses Rx then gave me the best vision I had in decades.
A year ago I went and got fitted for contact lenses, using so called monovision -- with one eye set for distance and one for close-up. However, I found the degree of clarity and resolution of the contacts was no match for my glasses. So, I dropped the idea of using contacts and have stuck with my glasses. I am also very happy with that decision. My glasses provide terrific vision at all distances.
Hi. I also had astigmatism in both eyes, surgeon recommended symfony lenses at about the same price you were quoted.
I was also told I wouldn’t need glasses except for very fine print. And that is the case. HOWEVER, lights have a halo effect and starbursts. And that’s not the worst of it. I also see concentric circles which make driving at night nearly impossible. So please note these possible side effects in your decision.
Im considering another surgery for a lense exchange but this also brings huge risks related to the retina.
I was not told about the possible side effects of concentric circles. Had I been to,d I would not have chosen the symfony lenses. I would have gladly renewed my eyeglass prescription.
You can google concntric circles from syfony lenses lenses to see what I’m talking about. There are some great pictu es.
Good luck with with your decision.
I had a symfony lens implanted in one eye in Octoer 2017. Total cost including the laser and the hospital, etc was $5500.
In my other eye I had the monofocal toric lens inplanted-- total cost for the second eye was $4200. Both of these charges were on top of payments from medicare and my supplement.
1. I think that your surgeon is over-selling you on what the Symfony Toric lens will do for you. I have a Symfony Toric lens in my right eye and with the help of LASIK enhancement, I have plano prescription and see 20/15 at distance. Yet, I will consider my vision at 26 inches barely passable and will not think of reading just with it at the normal reading distance of 16-18 inches (I have monovision and use the left eye for reading. Even the Symfony lens web site claims only 20/50 vision when using that lens in both eyes.
2. About a year back, I paid about $2300 extra (that is, beyond the price of a monofocal lens covered by insurance) for one eye to get Symfony Toric lens, including LASIK enhancement, if needed (I ended up needing it due to the lens rotation). The price was the same for the non-toric Symfony lens. I live in Seattle area.
3. I love my day vision using monovision with the combination of the Symfony lens for distance and a monofocal lens for reading, but hate the multiple (about 10) circles around lights at night. So, you have to weigh the additional distance through which you may reasonable focus versus the night vision issues with the Symfony lens (those are even worse with the multifocal lenses).
"Even the Symfony lens web site claims only 20/50 vision when using that lens in both eyes." in the above post should have said:
"Even the Symfony lens web site claims only 20/50 vision at 16 inches, when using that lens in both eyes."
I just had a multifocal iol implanted yesterday (Restor 2.5 D). Prices were the same for that lens, its toric version, or Symfony. Cost was an added $5,500 above a monofocal, but that price includes femto laser, ORA, added pre-op imaging, plus post-op Lasik if needed. This was in San Francisco and I'm sure that prices vary by region and popularity/reputation of the surgeon.
I'll be writing a review of my lens choice next week after I've had some time to see how vision improves. Surgery itself was fine.
Thank you. I am definitely going to speak with my eye Dr about any included post op treatment inclusions in this very expensive price. I don't want to go to just any Dr but also want to be treated fairly.
Thanks for your reply. I will be calling my Dr to get additional information and to question this price as it seems to be high. I am in Boca Raton, FL and can't see prices here being higher than in CA, PARTICULARLY San Fran.
Was that 5500 for one eye or two?
Wow very expensive! I live in Canada and my surgeries were both covered by Medicare. I have 2 regular Symfony lenses - costing $1,800 total for both. I seem to have gotten better nearer vision than what was expected. I see from 11 inches.
There is an actual is tori hood for a confocal correction such as distance. They are 1660.00 upcharge per eye. They then have two multigocal lenses. The non tori version is 3250.00 per eye. The topic version is 3500.00 per eye. Plus whatever my surgical deductible is.
Right eye symfony toric $5500
Left eye monofocal toric $4200
Outrageously expensive!
I have to ask what you feel about your differences between the Symfony and monofocal.... Are you satisfied with the range of vision the Symfony has over the monofocal in your other eye?
Hi there. I’m also in the USA and although I did not get symphony lenses I can give you some cost differences if that may help. I had astigmatism in right eye. Enough for a multifocal toric lens to be implanted the manufacturer is restor. Cost at surgical center $850. Doctors cost $1400. Although dr quoted me at $2850. This is in south Florida. Hope that helps
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Thank tou. Can you give me Dr name?
Key’s eye care. Key west. But I’m going to sight trust in sawgrass for a second opinion since my vision had yet to clear up 5-6 weeks out and have blurry vision at all distances. I’m a previous lasik patient so that could be my issue
Looking forward to your post. Hoping your results are positive and you are enjoying your new ‘vision’
My lenses cost me 1400 per eye. I have one lens for close and one for far. It is called blended vision. I also had astigmatism. It is laser surgery. If I had opted to forego the special lenses insurance would have covered the cost of removing the cataracts. I live just outside Chicago. Wondering if your cost estimate is normal for where you live. My girlfriend is in Florida and is paying 1800 per eye.