Is there anyone out there who has presbyopia and myopia and tried laser surgery to correct vision?
My myopia is -7.25 and -7.75 and my presbyopia is 150 both sides. I’ve seen a doctor and he advised against the surgery. He said correcting my eyes to monovision (one eye to see near and one to see far clearly) will cause eye strain and correcting them to perfect vision for shortsightedness (myopia) will leave the presbyopia uncorrected, thus resulting in me having to keep putting on and taking off my reading glasses all the time. I’m prepared to take the 2nd choice and wear multifocal glasses but he’s still against it. He said it’s not worth it since it’ll only at most make my glasses thinner. What do you guys think? Does anyone wiht myopia and presbyopia tried this and does it really cause terrible eye strain? Will it make life more difficult? I’m so upset to know that I can’t get the laser surgery done.
Tagged with: eye strain • laser surgery • multifocal glasses • myopia • perfect vision • Presbyopia • reading glasses • shortsightedness • thinner
Filed under: Presbyopia
Was this your Optometrist that advised against it, or the actual surgeon?
I worked in an Opthalmologist’s office about 4 years ago and we had our own surgical center where we performed many out-patient procedures and we saw many LASIK patients. Some of them were in the same boat as you are. And some of their distance prescriptions were worse than yours. I remember one person being a -12.00.
The monovision correction isn’t for everyone and they usually have the person try that with contacts first, to see how the patient tolerates it. Some people do very well and some don’t. And that’s why they have the patient try it with contacts first…then if they are unsucessful with it, they bag that idea.
Yes, if you had your distance vision corrected, you’d still need reading glasses. But, you’d be able to get up in the middle of the night and see your alarm clock, or get up and go to the bathroom, without having to put your glasses on. You’d be able to wear the cool sunglasses that they sell at department stores. You’d be able to go swimming without wearing glasses. You wouldn’t have to spend hundred’s of dollars on your glassea anymore, because you wouldn’t need bifocals or progressive lenses and you wouldn’t need to get the thinner, lighter lens material.
So, you have to decide what that it worth to you. If those are things you think you’d like to be able to do; if you’re tired of thick, heavy lenses; if you’re tired of being limited to certain frames because of your thicker lenses; if you want to be able to function without having your glasses…then LASIK (or other refractive surgery) would be good for you. I’ve seen MANY many happy patients who’ve had it done and they were thrilled to peices with the results. It was like giving them a brand new life because they were no longer a slave to their poor vision.
I would advise to research a good LASIK surgeon in your area and go in and talk to them, and see what they say. You can actually have the work-up done and that will determine if you are a good candidate. You need to have a stable prescription (meaning it hasn’t changed in 1-2 years) and you will put through a series of tests to see if you meet other criteria. They will check for corneal thickness, pupil size, tear production, and other things, all which will determine if you’d be a good candidate for the procedure. Then, after talking with them, armed with that knowledge, you can make an informed decision about whether you want to go through it or not. Keep in mind that as with any surgical procedure, there are side-effects and complications, which with the particular procedure, are minimal. And make sure you fully understand these, before you make your decision.
Good luck!