READING VISION CORRECTION
Almost every person will be become dependent on reading glasses with age. Why do we need reading glasses as we get older? Why can some people see up close without their glasses when others cannot? Simply stated, if your distance vision is perfect at distance in both eyes (either naturally, with contacts, glasses, or with any surgery) then near vision will begin deteriorating sometime between 40 and 45 years of age.
It is an inevitable part of aging and is better than the alternative. Throughout life the internal lens of the eye progressively hardens and loses its ability to change shape. This results in the decreased ability to focus on near objects, making reading difficult. This condition is called presbyopia, and is usually noticeable by age 45. If one or both eyes are nearsighted, then near vision will be preserved for some time as long as correction for distance is not being used.
Currently, there are several choices when dealing with presbyopia. These include reading glasses, bifocal eyeglasses or bifocal (multi-focal) contact lenses. Another option is monovision, where a contact lens is used in one or both eyes, allowing you to use one eye to see far and the other to see close up. Monovision does work well for many people even though it may reduce distance vision in some cases. Regardless if your eyes are nearsighted, farsighted, or have astigmagtism, monovision can be simulated with contact lenses and usually duplicated with Laser Vision Correction with our Allegretto Intra-LASIK procedure.
Monovision does work very well for a significant number of people and can be implemented with contacts, and with LASIK. We have been performing this procedure for many of our patients since 2004. With monovision the non-dominant eye is set to be focused at near. Often, the brain can “learn” to adapt to this and predominantly use the dominant eye for distance and the other eye for near. Of course, it is required to “test drive” monovision before any surgery is used to duplicate this. We provide this service under the direction of Dr. Mills and our contact lens division.
There are other alternatives to monovision surgery including conductive keratoplasty (CK), Restor© lens replacement surgery, and other lens replacement procedures known as Rezoom© and Crystalens©. All lens replacement surgery is the exact same procedure as having cataract surgery.
Click here for more information on cataracts and these lens implant products.
At Providence Eye & Laser Specialists, we always discuss all FDA approved options with you, but only recommend those that we would have done on ourselves or our family. Which procedure, if any, is best for you is dependent upon many factors that will be determined at the time of your evaluation. Under most circumstances, we will be able to simulate your results at the time of your consultation or with a contact lens trial.
