Around their early to mid-40s, all adults will start to experience difficulties with their near vision. Even those who have had perfect vision their entire lives will notice a change in their reading vision. This is due to the natural aging of the lens inside the eye called presbyopia. The lens’ ability to flex or “accommodate” is lost, and the eyes can no longer adjust or focus images at different distances. Traditionally, presbyopia was corrected with reading glasses, bifocal glasses, or monovision contact lenses. Today, monovision can also be replicated through laser eye surgery.
Monovision laser surgery corrects one eye for distance and one eye for near. With monovision, an adaption period is to be expected for the brain to learn how to use your new vision. It will pay more attention to the distance eye when looking at objects in the distance such as when driving or watching TV, and the near-vision eye when looking at close objects like a computer screen or a book.

Typically, if patients adapt to new glasses prescription changes and adjusted fairly easily to bifocals, then they can adapt to monovision without difficulty. Patients whose eyes do not adapt well to change are recommended to consider laser vision correction to correct distance vision in both eyes.

If you are under the age of 40, glasses are not usually necessary after the procedure. However, if you are over 45 and do not wish to have monovision LASIK, we will set both eyes to focus on the distance and you will require over-the-counter reading glasses after your LASIK surgery. For patients over 45 who wish to see distance and up close with both eyes for clearer vision without readers, there is a clear lens exchange surgery that may be a better option for you.