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For decades, the word “LASIK” has been a beacon of hope for those dreaming of life without glasses. It’s a powerful word, but for the millions of people over 45, its promise often falls short. If you find yourself holding your phone at arm’s length to read a text message or constantly switching between multiple […]
For decades, the word “LASIK” has been a beacon of hope for those dreaming of life without glasses. It’s a powerful word, but for the millions of people over 45, its promise often falls short. If you find yourself holding your phone at arm’s length to read a text message or constantly switching between multiple pairs of glasses, you’re not alone. You’ve likely been told that blurry near-vision is just a part of aging, and that LASIK might not be the right solution for you anymore.
Today, there’s a different, more permanent vision correction solution making waves, and it’s perfectly suited for San Diego’s active community in their 40s, 50s, and beyond. It’s called Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE), and it’s changing lives by addressing the very root cause of age-related vision decline.
To understand RLE, you first need to understand the difference between how a young eye and an aging eye work. LASIK works by using a laser to reshape the cornea, the clear front surface of the eye. This is highly effective for correcting nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism in younger patients whose natural eye lenses are still soft and flexible.
But as we mature, our natural lens, a clear, internal structure that focuses light, begins to harden and lose its flexibility. This is the natural process of presbyopia, which creates the need for reading glasses. The problem isn’t the cornea anymore; it’s the lens inside the eye. Since LASIK can’t fix this internal change, its effects often don’t last for a person over 45.
This is precisely where Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE) shines. It’s a surgical procedure that removes the eye’s aging lens and replaces it with a new, advanced, and custom-designed intraocular lens (IOL). This approach is also known as Clear Lens Exchange (CLE), offering the same benefits under a different name. This lens implant corrects your vision at multiple distances, completely eliminating or dramatically reducing your dependence on glasses and contact lenses. Unlike LASIK, RLE provides a lasting solution that won’t require a repeat procedure years down the line due to further aging of the natural lens.
The thought of eye surgery can be daunting, but RLE is a procedure with a very familiar and proven pedigree. The surgical process is nearly identical to modern cataract surgery, one of the safest and most frequently performed medical procedures in the world. The only significant difference is that in RLE, the natural lens is still clear, whereas in cataract surgery, it has become cloudy.
As one of the leading providers of Cataract Surgery in San Diego, Dr. Katzman often shares this simple but powerful analogy: “If this procedure is safe and effective enough for a 100-year-old patient, it’s absolutely safe for you in your 50s or 60s. We’re essentially using a highly advanced, perfected surgical technique to proactively address vision issues before they become a more significant problem.”
By choosing RLE, you can not only achieve permanent vision correction but also completely eliminate the risk of ever developing a cataract. The surgery provides a lifetime of clear vision, offering peace of mind alongside remarkable visual results.
The real magic of RLE lies in the incredible range of intraocular lens (IOL) options available today. These aren’t one-size-fits-all solutions; they are tailored to your specific vision goals and lifestyle.
San Diego is a city built for people who love to be active, from surfing at La Jolla Shores to hiking Torrey Pines. The constant need for reading glasses, prescription sunglasses, or contacts can be a real hindrance. Refractive Lens Exchange offers a life of true visual freedom, a permanent solution that lets you enjoy every moment without being tethered to corrective eyewear.
If you’ve been told you’re not a candidate for LASIK, or if you’re tired of the frustration of age-related vision changes, it’s time to explore the lasting benefits of Refractive Lens Exchange. It’s a safe, proven, and highly effective procedure that can provide you with the crystal-clear vision you remember from your younger years.
To learn more and schedule a consultation with a trusted eye surgeon in San Diego today to see if you are a candidate for this life-changing procedure, visit Dr. Katzman’s website today at sandiegocataractandlasik.com, the official website of Alvarado Eye.
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Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped "athletic" from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
There’s a version of San Diego that lives in two extremes. On one side, the 5 a.m. crowd: biohackers, marathoners, people who’ve already logged a cold plunge before your alarm goes off. On the other, the after-dark crowd, the ones chasing sunset happy hours and late dinners with friends. Everyone seems to be either optimizing or unwinding, and most of us feel like we’re failing at both.
Fit, San Diego’s reigning Best Gym for the third year running, has built its entire identity around erasing that divide.
Walk into one of Fit’s three San Diego locations on a Tuesday afternoon and the lines blur fast. Someone’s mid-set on the squat rack. Someone else has a laptop open at a café table a few feet away, half-working, half-people-watching. A group is trading plans for the weekend’s event by the recovery lounge. Nobody’s in a rush to leave.
“We’re not competing for the same people,” says Emily Waybright, Public Relations Manager at Fit, addressing the arrival of a national luxury gym chain in San Diego this year. “We don’t really feel like we’re in the gym category. It’s this unique thing.”
That unique thing has a name now. Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped “athletic” from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
It’s a small wording change with a bigger idea behind it. Fit was never built around escaping the workday. It was built around the people who genuinely like what they do, and who want workouts, work, and friendships to happen in the same place instead of three separate ones. Because sometimes red light therapy with a stranger turns into weekend plans.
Fit’s philosophy traces back to its founder, who started the brand nearly two decades ago after failing to find a gym he actually wanted to belong to. He looked instead to the old-school country club, where people came for a shared interest and stayed for the community. His version was made for a younger generation, minus the golf, plus the loud music.
Which makes it a little ironic that the very award putting Fit back in the spotlight this year is Best Gym.
What does the best traditional gym look like when the definition of a gym is becoming less traditional? It’s a fair question, and Fit’s answer is that the fitness industry itself is shifting. The 45-minutes-in, 45-minutes-out model is giving way to something closer to a genuine third space, the kind of role the office and the bar used to play before remote work and changing nightlife habits rearranged how people spend their time
For Fit, community isn’t a marketing add-on to fitness. It’s the through-line. Members aren’t just paying for a treadmill; they’re paying for an entire day of social wellness that’s built on performance, recovery, connection, and a plan for the next event on the calendar. That’s a much harder membership to walk away from.
Ambition and ease aren’t opposites here, they exist side by side, where passion and play share the same morning. On September 12, Fit is hosting Sol, a full day wellness festival at Fit Social. The morning focuses on wellness classes and vendors and then the evening is a full party with multiple DJ sets and an open bar. Think of it as a kick-off to locals’ summer in San Diego.
Ready to see what a social wellness club actually looks like? Visit fitclubs.com, or follow along at @thefitclubs on Instagram.
Laika Nur, MD, takes her love of volleyball from the court to the clinic as team physician for the San Diego Mojo
Growing up, Laika Nur, MD, Scripps Clinic sports medicine specialist, loved watching beach volleyball when the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour came to her hometown of Chicago. A talented volleyball player herself, she remembers sitting in the stands all day, and once, even got a couple autographs. Years later, Dr. Nur was attending a professional event focused on women’s sports, and the discussion turned to a new professional women’s volleyball league. The general manager and coaching staff for San Diego’s team, the Mojo, happened to be in attendance, and Dr. Nur took the opportunity to ask them if they needed a team doctor. Flash forward to the Mojo’s inaugural 2024 season, when Dr. Nur officially became the team physician. Click here to read more about Dr. Nur and how she incorporates lessons she learned on the court into her practice.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
How local orthopedic specialists are pioneering the future of foot and ankle care
Your feet and ankles probably aren’t something you give much thought to—until something goes wrong. Orthopedic surgeons at Scripps Clinic are on the leading edge of foot and ankle reconstruction, treating patients with sports injuries, deformities, traumatic injuries and other conditions. That includes repairing torn Achilles tendons with a minimally invasive procedure that shrinks the incision site to less than a centimeter, and performing advanced ankle replacement on some patients with ankle arthritis. Read more about Scripps’ innovations in foot and ankle care here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
A new program guides new moms through high-risk pregnancy and into the “fourth trimester”
Mai Vue was just 34 weeks pregnant when she delivered her baby. Her pregnancy had been complicated, and she’d had a recent second trimester pregnancy loss, which led to her receiving specialized care from Sean Daneshmand, MD, a Scripps Clinic perinatologist who oversees high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Daneshmand and his team took care of Mai during her pregnancy, through the birth of her healthy baby girl and beyond. Mai was part of a program Scripps launched to provide support to new moms in the weeks and months after delivery. The postpartum program, known as Scripps Health’s Fourth Trimester Continuum of Care, provides care for women with high-risk pregnancies to optimize their health after childbirth and reduce the risk of complications in future pregnancies. Click here to learn more.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
Scripps Clinic’s Mohs surgery center is one of the most sophisticated in the country.
It’s estimated that one in five people in the U.S. will develop skin cancer at some point in their lives. When you factor in living in a sun-soaked city like San Diego and the outdoorsy lifestyle that comes with it, that figure can jump to as high as one in three, which makes early detection and intervention all the more important. Dermatologists at Bighorn Mohs and Dermatology Center are using innovative imaging methods and advanced surgical techniques to diagnose and treat skin cancer. For certain cancers in sensitive spots, like the face, dermatologists perform Mohs surgery, removing skin tissue layer by layer until reaching healthy, cancer-free tissue. They also use a process called immunohistochemistry to view tissue samples taken during Mohs surgery in far greater detail than previous methods. Read more about how Scripps is advancing skin cancer care here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
Scripps Cancer Center helps an endurance athlete overcome his greatest challenge yet and get back in the race
When endurance athlete Isaac Sanchez learned he had cancer, he felt blindsided. He was healthy, surfed often and was training for an Ironman triathlon. But he had to put that on hold to undergo treatment. His physicians at Scripps Cancer Center developed a plan to treat the cancer in his tonsil and lymph nodes that included six-and-a-half weeks of near-daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy. He also worked with a Scripps Cancer Center dietitian to enhance his nutrition to promote strength and healing. Today, Isaac’s back to doing what he loves. Read more of his story here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
