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| LASIK
for Monovision |
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At around age 40, most people who don't wear glasses for distance
vision develop a need for glasses to read or to see things up close.
This age related loss of close-up focusing power in the eye is
called "presbyopia." People who are moderately nearsighted can often
continue to read up close without glasses after age 40, despite the
onset of presbyopia. They simply take their distance glasses off in
order to read or see up close.
This is possible because their nearsighted eye is "built" to see
best up close in the first place. LASIK is designed to improve
distance vision by reducing nearsightedness. The decrease in
nearsightedness means that the eye is no longer "built" to see well
up close without glasses.
So, if you are over 40 and nearsighted, LASIK may improve your
distance vision dramatically, but increase your dependence on
glasses to read or to see up close with the treated eye.
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One way around this problem is to
consider having LASIK for "monovision." Monovision is the term used
for "setting" one eye for distance vision and the other eye for
reading or close-up vision. Monovision was originally developed as a
strategy for contact lens wearers over age 40. But monovision can
also be achieved with LASIK. In this scenario, one eye (the dominant
eye) is fully treated with LASIK to achieve the best possible
distance vision without glasses or contacts. The second
(non-dominant) eye is then treated with LASIK to allow for reading
or close-up vision. The "reading eye" is blurred for distance. The
"distance" eye is blurred for reading. But the brain usually adjusts
quickly to "choosing" the correct eye to use for all tasks.
Monovision can often delay or eliminate the need for reading glasses
for many years. Most people adjust to monovision quite easily. At
One to One LASIK™, we can usually show you what monovision is like
before your LASIK procedure.
Even when monovision with LASIK is successful, there may be certain
times when reading glasses are still helpful, such as when trying to
read maps, phonebook listings, stock quotes in the newspaper, menus
in dim restaurants, etc.. And because LASIK does not stop the normal
age-related loss of close-up focusing power over time, the need for
reading glasses may increase somewhat as you get older. Some people
who choose monovision may also benefit from a pair of glasses to
wear on occasion when they want the two eyes to work better
together, such as when driving at night or reading for long periods
of time.
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