Mon’ Ami, Mono Vision

Posted by: West Georgia Eye Care Center in Frontpage Article on January 22, 2016

According to the last U.S. census, 1 in 4 Americans are between the ages of 45 and 65. What do they all have in common? Age-related eye changes. 

Billions of pairs of reading glasses are sold each year to allow patients to regain the focus they’ve lost in the aging eye change called presbyopia. Of course, presbyopia is not a problem specific to our country. The loss of ability to bring near objects into focus is an inevitable, universal condition. If we’re on this planet long enough, we will have to make a decision how we want to deal with the loss of near vision focus.

Procedures that offer freedom from glasses, such as laser vision surgery (iLASIK), advanced cataract surgery and clear lens exchange, are often able to provide freedom from reading glasses as well. Sometimes that freedom comes in the form of a focusing arrangement known as monovision. Last week, we blogged about a patient who was freed from glasses for the first time since kindergarten. Her freedom was achieved through advanced cataract surgery with monovision.

So what is monovision? Essentially, monovision is a presbyopia symptom-relieving status of having one eye focused to distance, and one focused to near. Precise calculations are made to provide for one eye to have a final refractive error that provides good distance vision in the dominant eye and good near vision in the non-dominant eye. With both eyes working together, most patients find they are able to appreciate their vision in both distance and near focus. Statistically, this optical arrangement works for about 85 percent of the patients who try it. The remaining 15 percent may report symptoms of feeling off balance, having trouble with depth perception, and simply not enjoying their vision.

To find out if monovision if a good match for you, we invite you to schedule a free refractive surgery consultation today!