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Cost of symfony toric

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edfru2
edfru2

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.

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  • Songbill
    Songbill edfru2

    Posted

    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.

  • hewey10
    hewey10 edfru2

    Posted

    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. 

  • msailing
    msailing edfru2

    Posted

    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. 

     

    • miguel20862
      miguel20862 msailing

      Posted

      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?
    • msailing
      msailing miguel20862

      Posted

      I am completely comfortable with my ability to see well without glasses in almost every situation since my surgery. Before the surgery, I wore progressive glasses for 12 years. I now can read without glasses if there is sufficient light --(not fine print however). I think the symfony lens is allowing me to read in most situations- or perhaps the two eyes together are even more effective. My doctor has asked me to not close one eye too often so that my brain adjusts to using both eyes. 

      I am still quite sensitive to the glare from the starbursts and halos caused by the symfony lens. My doctor has offered to replace that lens with another monofocal toric if I want- (at no extra charge by the way). However I'm hoping to not require any more surgery. (Explantation cannot be done with a laser.)

      I am happy that I can at any moment choose to close my symfony eye and see things (like the moon)  as I saw them before. That;s important to me. 

      Many of you have commented on the outrageous price I have paid for my toric lenses, This seems to be the going rate in NYC. In defense of my doctor I must add that I have seen him at least 10 times without any additional charge; he never fails to answer a question; I never feel rushed by him or his office. I have read so many comments by others on this board with problems which seem to involve botched calculations or botched surgeries. I have had zero problems.

      Get the best doctor you can with the most experience with these lenses. 

    • Sue.An
      Sue.An msailing

      Posted

      Wise words.   Getting a good surgeon is key to a good outcome.

      Just something I want to comment on as I too was told by my surgeon that both eyes working together will provide me better vision and I find that to be true.   I have 2 Symfony lenses targeted for plano and I can read well in good lighting from 11 inches away.

      I also just returned from a cruise vacation to the Southern Caribbean during the rare blue super moon.  Someone I met onboard had an excellent camera and took some spectacular photos of it.  I didn’t see much difference from the photo to what I saw through my Symfony lenses (except with the type of camera they were able to take s closer pic.  It was sharp - no halo that night at all.  Some nights there is a halo around the moon - but I think those nights even those without artificial lenses see a halo.  If you google that there is an explanation for why the moon does have a halo around it.

      Anyways it was truly a special sight on Jan 31 witness such a sight - beautiful.

    • msailing
      msailing Sue.An

      Posted

      Lucky you. I gazed at the same moon from my dining room window...not quite so special, very hazy in NY.

      For me there's a big difference in what I saw in each eye. But I think I may have been more sensitive  than others to light way before I had the surgery---like all my life. 

    • Sue.An
      Sue.An msailing

      Posted

      I sometimes do see a ring or ha e around the moon too.   It could be the location from where you are viewing.   I was deep in southern Caribbean 50 miles off coast of Venezuela.  So perhaps the sky looks different there?   Was hoping to find Southern Cross constellation as that would not be one I can see from Canada.   

      Other than the concentric circles other artifacts have improved these past 7 months for me. How long has it been since your surgeries?   Do you have good daytime vision?

    • msailing
      msailing Sue.An

      Posted

      right eye October 27  (symfony)

      left eye November 29

      My vision is excellent (20/15 both eyes) . 

      I don't have any problems, day or night except the starbursts and halos mainly caused by LED lights. No artifacts. 

       

    • Sue.An
      Sue.An msailing

      Posted

      Those are really good results.   I guess sometimes it’s expectations and perceptions.  I was told about the concentric circles before my surgeries (July and August 2017) so wasn’t surprised by those.  

      Yes it does appear LED lights bring out the concentric circles.  Some lights I don’t see them at all.

    • dennis39810
      dennis39810 msailing

      Posted

      Live in NJ & I am in NYC area can you let me know which doctor did your surgery? I am researching who to use.

  • at201
    at201 edfru2

    Posted

    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).

    • at201
      at201

      Posted

      "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."

    • edfru2
      edfru2 at201

      Posted

      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.

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