Monovision LASIK

Presbyopes have limited options when it comes to LASIK surgery.  Even if you had LASIK at a younger age you will still need glasses for up close work when you hit your 40's.  This is due to the fact that you eye loses the ability to focus at all distances.  One of the ways to use laser surgery to help with this condition is to correct one eye for distance vision and the other eye for near vision.

Just like you are right-handed or left-handed, you also have an eye that is favored.  Your brain treats this eye preferentially when sighting an object.  Just because you are right-handed does not necessarily mean that you are right eye dominant.  Monovision is employed frequently with contact lenses to achieve optimum focus at distance through one eye and near for the other eye.  Generally the dominant eye is corrected for distance.  The same strategy of using two different focus distances is used by a LASIK surgeon to reshape one eye for far and one for near. 

The most common complaint among people who have undergone monovision surgery is that they have trouble with judging the depth of objects.  This usually improves with time as they adapt but it may be quite noticeable at first.  Using your peripheral vision with the eye that is not focused for a particular distance can be difficult as well.  For example if you were driving and attempted to look in your left side mirror and your left eye was for near vision, things would appear blurry and you might have trouble seeing a car coming up from behind. Humans are quite adaptable and these would most likely not be noticed after a while. 

If you have never experienced monovision before it would be best to try it out by wearing monovision contacts. You can discuss this with your eye care provider and they will help you make the decision that is best for you. If you don't like monovision or are afraid of the possible side effects you still may get LASIK to correct for your distance vision and just wear reading glasses. This would be a good option for someone who is outdoors frequently and doesn't do as much near work. Monovision LASIK cost is about the same as most other types of LASIK, ranging from $1,500 to $3,000 per eye.