Get Rid of Bifocals and Reading Glasses With Monovision
Are you tired of carrying around two pairs of glasses, wearing one pair to drive and another to read the menu when you go out to eat? Does the very though of bifocals make you feel old? Are you tired of wearing glasses and contacts altogether? You can ditch the lenses with LASIK!
Presbyopia
Most people begin to develop presbyopia at about 40. Presbyopia is loss of accommodation and develops with age. Accommodation is the ability to focus on object close up. If you are already near sighted, when you develop presbyopia you will need bifocals if you want to be able to read and see far away without switching glasses. If you are starting out with good distance vision, you will still need reading glasses. LASIK offers an option called monovision which can eliminate the need for bifocals or reading glasses.
What is monovision?
You see with both eyes, but one eye is normally dominant. Your brain relies more heavily on the image from the dominant eye. Monovision LASIK surgery corrects your dominant eye for distance vision and your non-dominant eye for focusing up close. Your brain will choose the best image, so you don’t actually see the blurry image coming from the other eye.
Adjusting to monovision
It can take several weeks for your brain to get used to making the adjustment and for your vision to seem natural. For some people it’s an easy transition. You can try contacts that provide monovision for a few months before having the surgery, to see if it is right for you.
Drawbacks
Monovision is a compromise. Most patients are very happy with the results, but it does not give you perfect vision. Monovision can diminish depth perception, so you may still need to wear glasses when driving at night. If your near vision continues to deteriorate with age, you may require additional surgery or reading glasses later on to correct the problem.
Monovision LASIK surgery can improve your life in many ways, giving you freedom from glasses and allowing you to return to your normal activities. If you have LASIK monovision surgery and find that you do not like it, your non-dominant eye can be corrected to match your other eye.
Help answer the question about lasik monovision
Your lasik monovision experiences?
I had lasik monovision 10 days ago. Although I saw quite clearly (but not 20/20) for a couple of days afterward, the following week was very difficult with lots and lots of fluxuation in both eyes, and at work eye strain and irritation. The doctor is encouraging and advises patience, but I’d love a pep talk or advice from anyone who’s had monovision lasik. At this point I’m not sure what’s affecting my vision – adjusting to mono or the healing process. My next follow up with the doc is in two weeks. I’m disappointed that I didn’t see perfectly the very next day – as I’ve lots of friends who had it, and did!
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If you need reading glasses or bifocals, talk to your ophthalmologist about monovision LASIK surgery today
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10 Responses to “Get Rid of Bifocals and Reading Glasses With Monovision”
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It can take up to six months for your vision to settle down; the cornea needs to heal. After six months, you may need another procedure; it happened to me. Give it some time and be sure to use lots of artificial tears; your eyes can dry up and this definitely affects your vision. Believe me, it is worth it in the end! Good luck!
Number one question…Did you try monovision in contact lenses prior to the procedure? If not, you may never get the quality vision that you desire. Monovision is not for everyone yet some cavalier surgeons do it on anyone over the age of 40. Regardless, give it about 1 month to gage your happiness. By then, your eye should have healed enough to judge the result.
Make certain of it.
i knew someone who went it and it worsened their eye problems
For presbyopic individuals (those who need reading glasses for near work) monovision is a very effective strategy to achieve good (not perfect) vision at distance as well as near without the need for any glasses. In monovision, one eye is corrected for distance vision and the other eye for near vision. The procedure entails using PRK or LASIK to fully correct one eye for distance and undercorrect the other eye (by 1 to 2 D) for near vision. Not every patient is a good candidate for monovision. The monovision option may be associated with compromises of binocular visual function, and some people may not be able or willing to accept the vision compromises. (http://www.agingeye.net/lasik/lasik.php)
All patients who opt for monovision must understand that monovision has adverse effect on some aspects of visual function. Specifically, they need to understand the risks of reduced binocular visual acuity, stereoacuity, and contrast sensitivity. Monovision patients may require spectacle correction to obtain optimal visual functioning for certain tasks such as night driving or fine near-vision tasks. In addition, they need to be made aware of the risk of distance and near ghosting as a result of incomplete blur suppression. Blur suppression appears to be particularly problematic under night driving conditions because interocular blur suppression becomes less effective under dim illumination conditions. Therefore, patients must be advised of the need to wear distance glasses when driving.
I have done it 10 years ago and do not regret it for a second.
I do not have the perfect vision but I am happy.
Give it sometime longer it will all adjust just fine.
One of my eyes healed slightly faster then the other. I don't think there is a formula to it.
That's what I had done. The important thing to know is that you should spend the extra money on the Lifetime Acuity Plan, because I had it done 2 years ago and had to have an enhancement on my left eye just this past Friday. The doctors were really nice when they found out I needed the enhancement and since I had the Acuity Plan, I didn't have to pay any extra to get everything corrected. They don't exactly know why my eyesight changed, but I'm SO glad I invested the extra cash just in case…..But, I now have 20/20 again. It's pretty amazing.
I got lasik a few years ago, and I also noticed some difficulty in focusing near. For me it was really only very near objects, so if I held the page out just a little farther I was fine.
Basically, the surgery has changed the way you focus, and your eyes/brain just needs time to adjust to this. You should be fine after a short while, but if you are really concerned (or the extent of your focusing problem is really major) then you should talk to your doctor.
I had lasik a month ago and am very dissappointed, i was previously very shortsighted and as I am 46 years old was advised to go with the monovision – even after one month i cannot see properly to read, watch tv, drive or evern clean my house! I have been back five times to complain but am told that it takes time – i was not told this befofe or I would not have had the procedure.