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