Monovision

Monovision: A Plan for the 40+ Year Old LASIK Patient

As we get older, we gradually lose the ability to change focus from distance to near. This condition is called presbyopia. It results in a loss of flexibility of the lens inside the eye, as well as other age-related changes. This is a gradual change throughout life, but it usually is not noticeable until the mid-forties. Although we may call this “reading vision” it is the vision that we use to eat, put on makeup, and look at a watch and other near tasks.

If you are nearsighted and also presbyopic, you may use this to your advantage by removing your glasses or contact lenses to see up close. After Laser Vision Correction, the natural focus of the eye has usually been adjusted for distance. It is as if you are always wearing your distance glasses or contact lenses and can’t take them off to read. Regardless of your previous prescription, if both eyes are corrected for distance, reading glasses will be necessary in people with presbyopia.

To decrease the need for reading glasses, the technique of creating monovision may be helpful. With monovision, the doctor fully treats one eye (usually the dominant eye) for distance, and the other eye for near. This leaves one slightly nearsighted (myopic) eye for good near vision without glasses. Monovision can help you maintain reading vision in one eye to avoid total dependence on reading glasses. With monovision you must often give up some distance sharpness to avoid reading glasses. A weak distance lens at times for the nearsighted eye may be helpful for night driving. Many patients already experience monovision in their contact lenses and, occasionally, in their glasses and are aware of its benefits and limitations. A trial period with contact lenses may determine if monovision would be a good option for you.

Monovision is a slight compromise of both distance and near vision. Depth perception is also affected. For people with high visual demands like sports or constant near work, we recommend full distance correction with reading glasses for near vision.