Lasik & Reading Glasses

Marcia Lerner · 08-28-2003, 03:58 PM

I am very nearsighted and need my glasses for everything EXCEPT reading up-close. I am considering LASIK for distance, and would then need reading glasses for close work. (I've tried contacts simulating monovision and found the resulting vision too fuzzy for my lifestyle.) Has anyone else gone this route? I'm OK with the medical aspect of the lasik procedure, but am struggling with the psychological concept of completely reversing how I experience the world!

tornado woman · 09-11-2003, 07:10 PM

Like how nearsighted? Did your doc guarantee you that you will need reading glasses after surgery? Or is it just after you get older then you'll need the reading glasses?

I had LASIK and PRK six months ago and I am stuck with a 'monovision' of a sort - only being able to see well with one eye. The other one has ghosting and blurring near and far. I was a moderate myope (-3.5). I can read the chart 20/25 with my bad eye and 20/15 with the good one. My vision acuity is good and I am considered a surgical success based on it, but the quality of my vision in the right (LASIK) eye is so bad that I'm going to get a custom made rigid gas permeable contact lens to smooth out the irregular corneal surface that was created either by the laser or by the way I healed.

I know that there are tons of happy LASIK success stories. I'm not advising you against it, but warning you that acuity is not all there is to vision and vision quality is not usually included in refractive surgery statistics. You can have monocular diplopia (see two of everything out of one eye) and still read the Snellen chart. Technology is not yet at a point where irregularities in the corneal surface caused by the surgery can be reliably fixed with the laser.

Marcia Lerner · 09-12-2003, 11:08 AM

My nearsightedness is pretty extreme. I can barely make out the big E at the top of the chart. And, I'm at the age where I would absolutely need glasses to read. In fact, I tried a pair of distance contacts to simulate the lasik results, and couldn't make out a thing within a foot and a half. I've pretty much come to the same conclusion as you... that technology is not quite there yet for people like me. I appreciate you sharing your experience, and hope that you are able to find an acceptable solution to your situation.

Willzviewz · 09-13-2003, 05:18 PM

I had Lasik performed two years ago. I have difficulty reading anything without reading glasses. If you go out to dinner, you better make sure you have reading glasses else you will NOT be able to read the menu. If the lighting is bright, I can read - if dim, forget it. My correction is by no means perfect but I consider it better than what I went through in the past.

It is a personal decision. If I were you, I would investigate every alternative available at this time. Within a year, perhaps another procedure will come along that is better. They improve these things all the time.

I will say it is great to get up in the morning, open the curtains and see the world. No more getting on my hands and knees looking for my glasses or contact lenses. No more dry, scratchy eyes after taking out contact lenses.

shadepra · 09-20-2003, 01:21 AM

tornado woman,

You had PRK done on your left eye, with good results and no problems? I was going to get Lasik done, but then I read a number of bad things about it, and now I'm too afraid to do it. Quite a lot of people have ended up with the same problem as you. PRK actually seems to be the better procedure as far as the final results go, even though the healing time is longer.

Would you recommend PRK? By the way, why did you have a different procedure done on each eye?

[This message has been edited by shadepra (edited 09-20-2003).]