the importance of optometry exams

Frustrated By Your Need For Reading Glasses? How Monovision Laser Eye Surgery Can Help

As people age, it's common for them to lose their ability to focus on objects that are close to them. The lens of the eye slightly hardens, making it more difficult for it to adjust its focus. This can make it harder to read print, especially in dim light.

If your distance vision is fine, but you require reading glasses to read text in print or on a computer screen, you're a good candidate for monovision laser eye surgery. This procedure makes your non-dominant eye slightly nearsighted while leaving your dominant eye unchanged. Since the procedure is performed on only one eye, it is often less expensive than other laser eye surgery options. It can eliminate your need for reading glasses while giving you adequate distance vision. Here are some answers to commonly-asked questions about monovision laser eye surgery.

What Is Monovision Laser Eye Surgery?

First, you need to understand eye dominance. Your dominant eye is the one that your brain prefers to use in order to focus on distant objects. Hold your hands out in front of you to create a viewing window with a distant object in the center. Alternately close your left eye and then your right eye. When you close your dominant eye, the object will appear to shift so that it is no longer within the viewing window created by your hands. The majority of people are right-eye dominant, meaning that the object shifts when only their left eye is open.

With monovision laser eye surgery, your dominant eye is left uncorrected to preserve its distance vision. Your non-dominant eye is then corrected using a laser in order to make it slightly nearsighted. With excellent distance vision in your dominant eye, you retain your ability to clearly focus on objects in the distance. When it comes time to read print that's close to you, your nearsighted non-dominant eye allows you to clearly read it without the need for reading glasses. By intentionally creating a difference in focus between your dominant eye and your non-dominant eye with monovision laser surgery, you'll preserve distance vision while gaining the ability to read text without glasses.

Is Monovision Laser Eye Surgery for Everyone?

Whether or not you're a good candidate for monovision laser eye surgery depends on your lifestyle. One common side effect is a slight loss in your ability to perceive depth at long distances. The main reason why patients seek out monovision eye surgery is to read text without the need for reading glasses – the procedure is more suitable for a software developer or accountant who is tired of using reading glasses at work rather than a truck driver or heavy equipment operator that requires excellent depth perception at a distance.

Before you receive the surgery, your eye doctor will give you monovision contact lenses to wear for a trial period. This simulates the effect of monovision laser eye surgery and allows you to discover if the surgery is the correct choice for you. You should also note that monovision laser eye surgery can easily be undone by an eye surgeon if you find that the procedure is not right for your lifestyle.

Monovision eye surgery is an excellent option for those who are tired of wearing reading glasses or find that reading glasses cause significant eyestrain. If you're wondering whether or not you're a good candidate, contact an eye doctor that performs monovision eye surgery for an eye test and a trial period with monovision contact lenses. 


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