Getting Rid of Reading Glasses
Presbyopia is a condition in which the eyes begin to experience increasing levels of difficulty focusing on small print up close: books, newspapers, cell phones. It is unrelated to any distance vision problems which may already exist, such as near- or far-sightedness.
The average age of onset of presbyopia is 40 years of age. Most people will begin to realize that reading small print is just not as easy as it used to be, even if they had perfect vision all of their lives. This is a biological condition that affects everyone and is the result of the aging of the focusing system (including the lens inside the eye and the muscles that control them).
There is no “cure” for presbyopia, but it can be treated in a number of ways. Currently, the most common treatment option with a laser is known as monovision. Monovision circumvents presbyopia by correcting one eye for distance and the other eye for near vision. Many people who are presbyopic already do this with contact lenses. While most patients are able to adapt to monovision, it is a good idea to try monovision with contact lenses first, prior to considering a permanent change with laser refractive surgery.
NearVision Conductive KeratoplastyTM
Another
treatment option available to enable better near vision in patients over
the age of 40 is conductive keratoplasty or "CK."
This procedure is available to help those patients whose distance
vision problems range from little or no correction up to a moderate amount
of farsightedness, but are experiencing increasing difficulty at near.
The minimally invasive procedure uses radio frequency energy, as
opposed to laser energy, to steepen the central cornea, yielding increased
ability to view small print at close distances.
The added benefit of CK is that the distance
vision is preserved at
higher levels, when compared with monovision.
