Refractive lens exchange is generally recommended for people over 45 years old and this is because at this age people will have already started to develop presbyopia. Presbyopia describes the natural ageing process of the lens within your eye which results in reduced ability to focus things close to you e.g. reading. Consequently, when the natural lens in your eye is removed during refractive lens exchange you will no longer have the ability to focus on things close to you. If you already need spectacles for near vision as a result of your age, then this is much less likely to have an impact on you.
Refractive lens exchange can be carried out on people below the age of 45 but it is important to understand that having surgery at this age will mean that your near vision will be worse following surgery. However, this may be a small price to pay for those people with very high prescriptions if it means they no longer have to wear their incredibly thick glasses for walking around in. Over the past few years however refractive lens exchange has advanced considerably allowing both your reading vision and distance vision to be corrected.