Monovision LASIK

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, January 08, 2011 (Press-News.org) Typical of medical progress, new procedures are usually inspired by what is learned from older procedures. Monovision LASIK developed out of a need to improve upon an earlier procedure called conductive keratoplasty, or CK. It's not that CK did not work-it is, in fact, a very successful treatment for presbyopia. But it is not a permanent solution. Over time, as little as two years, CK gradually reverses itself, returning your vision to its original state. Consequently, CK patients face the expense and inconvenience of repeating surgery or finding another solution to gain clear vision within a few years of having CK surgery. Monovision LASIK is one of those solutions.

How Monovision LASIK Corrects Presbyopia

Presbyopia begins to affect just about everyone sometime before age 50. As we age our natural crystalline lenses begin to stiffen and become less flexible. Consequently, the lens' ability change focus quickly is slowed, and the range of focus decreases, particularly affecting near vision. This is when most people begin using reading glasses even if they still see distances well.

Monovision is a technique of creating near vision in the non-dominant eye, which allows reading without glasses. The dominant eye, with good distance vision, is left alone.

Monovision LASIK involves sculpting the cornea of the non-dominant eye to achieve modest nearsightedness.

Advantages of Monovision LASIK Over Other Methods

LASIK offers several advantages over other methods of achieving monovision. LASIK:

- Is permanent with no need to repeat this procedure or find another solution
- Avoids all the hassle of cleaning and maintaining contact lenses
- Leaves the crystalline lens intact
- Is approved for professionals in sports, aviation, emergency medical personnel and other vision intensive professions
- Or LASEK, PRK, Epi-LASIK and other variations of laser surgery can be used to achieve monovision

Disadvantages of Monovision LASIK

LASIK and other laser surgeries are permanent because they ablate, or destroy, corneal tissue. This irreversibility is probably the biggest disadvantage to any LASIK procedure, although few people have any problems because of that.

Most disadvantages attributed to monovision LASIK are the same as when done by any other procedure. The most notable is adjusting to the decrease or loss of depth perception. Two eyes working together produce binocular vision that helps the viewer perceive how far away objects are. Viewing distant objects with one eye loses the perception of depth or distance.

Other possible problems stem from using eyes independently, and can cause muscle strain and associated headaches. Most people adapt to this during the contact lens trial.

Because patients undergo a trial with contact lenses for weeks prior to surgery, they already know that they can adjust to monovision before deciding on LASIK.

You can learn more about monovision LASIK in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Pleasanton, California from one of the Bay Area's experienced laser eye surgeons if you will please visit the website of Dr. Gary Kawesch at the Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley. http://www.lasikdocs.com/about-us.html