What Can Monovision Do For Lasik Candidates?
Monivision could be an alternative option for other individuals
who are thinking of undergoing Lasik surgery. Monovision means using
one eye for seeing distant objects and the other eye for seeing
near objects. This method has been used for more than 20 years and
has had a very good rate of success. The Lasik surgeon will correct
your stronger eye for far vision and the weaker eye for near vision.
A primary factor for the Lasik surgeon to propose the use of Monovision
as an alternative is the age of the patient. When a person reaches
40 years old, the eyes’ capability to shift focus from far
to near starts to wane. This condition is known as “presbyopia”.
If Lasik is performed to make both eyes improve their far vision,
this will mean, in majority of the cases that the patient will still
need to use reading glasses for clear near vision.
Do not be worried by a “blurry” life. At first, the
procedure will cause a very blurry, disoriented vision problem and
the patient starts to fear that this has become a permanent condition.
But do not fear because the brain is still at work. Eventually,
the brain will adjust for the Monovision by “filtering out”
the images that is intended for each eye so that if the left eye
is the one assigned for distance and the right eye is for near,
when you are reading, the brain will disregard the blurry image
from the left eye.
Remember two important things:
The facility to change focus works only from far to near. This
means that if the eye is adjusted for near vision, it will not be
able to see distance objects clear. On the other hand, if the eye
was corrected to see for distance vision, then the eye can also
focus to see objects that are close by. However, for this to work,
the patient must not be suffering from presbyopia.
The brain fully adjusts to Monovision function in 6 to 8 weeks,
ignoring the unfocused eye to give clear vision for both eyes.
Things to consider in Monovision. Generally, Lasik surgeons will
not advise Monovision if the patient is below 35 years old, the
reason being, at that age, the eyes are still able to change focus
and remain that way for a good number of years. Additionally, by
the time that you will finally reap the benefit of Monivision, a
new development in eye treatment more suited to your eyes’
condition could have been developed.
Another very important factor to consider if you are thinking of
Monovision is the ensuing loss of dimensional perception. It can
pose some problems in situations like driving because it will be
like driving with one eye closed, unless you are already used to
driving with just one eye. This is the outcome of Monovision. The
brain will be disregard objects being seen by one eye or the other
eye as it has adjusted to do so.
The solution for this condition is to have both eyes adjusted for
distance vision, and then use reading glasses to be able to see
for close up work. If for some reason you wanted to try if Monovision
will work for you, and then afterwards decide that it does not,
then another Lasik procedure can correct that by enhancing the near
eye so that it can match the grade of the far eye. Then you will
still have to use reading glasses to see near clearly.
Use glasses in the future?
You might not have presbyopia now but will probably have as you
and get matured and so does your eyes. If you are still below 40
yet you already have the condition now, expect it to get worse as
you get older. The use of Lasik for distance vision correction does
not mean not having to wear glasses ever again. One advantage of
Monovision method is that most likely, you do not have to wear glasses
for close up work or reading even as you get older.
The contact lens alternative.
If you are not very sensitive to wearing contact lens and are not
considering surgery, there are also contact lenses that are called
Monovision. Similar to Lasik, it will also take some time for the
brain to get used to each eye’s function. Also. Additional
adjustments will have to be made if this is the first time you will
be using contact lenses.
Results
A survey done on Lasik patients using with the Monovision established
that almost 85% of the patients found Monovision favorable enough
and used it long enough. The remaining 15% found it uncomfortable
and cannot get used to it and wanted to reverse the procedure by
having the near eyes adjusted to complement the far eye.
Another available alternative
If you have chosen the Lasik Monovision method and realized that
some of your regular activities cannot be accomplished without problems,
one option that can be done is to have the near eye fitted with
a contact lens to complement eye.
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