Monovision LASIK for Presbyopia Correction

Filed in archive Why LASIK? on March 11, 2010

© stevendamron

As we all get a little older, even those of us with 20/20 vision may find themselves playing a little trombone from time to time as they push and pull reading material before their eyes, trying desperately to find that once accustomed "sweet spot" of visual clarity.

Many of us resort to "readers", those various half-glasses, bi- and tri-focals in order to treat the presbyopia, that farsightedness brought on naturally by middle age. What has happened? The crystalline lenses in our eyes have become firm and less flexible, resistant to change, much like many people themselves tend to do over time. This inflexibility impedes the lenses from varying their shapes for different ranges of focus. Thus the most common sign of presbyopia is the need to hold reading materials at a greater distance in order to focus. Often distance vision remains unaffected.

Although there is no perfect procedure to cure presbyopia, the condition can be treated with LASIK monovision correction, a refractive surgery procedure where one eye is corrected for near vision and the other eye is corrected for distance vision. In this procedure, a small measure of myopia is induced in the non-dominant eye, while the dominant eye remains uncorrected, retaining its better distance vision. With the resulting vision, the brain unconsciously chooses which eye to use to better focus at a given distance.

While monovision correction leaves the eyes with unmatched abilities, the overall effect is that it becomes easier to focus on materials both close up and at a distance, negating a further need for glasses.