Laser vision correction in patients 40+

It affects us all and appears between the ages of 40 and 50.

Often confused with a vision defect – farsightedness. Presbyopia is a natural, progressive, physiological process of the body. It manifests itself as difficulty in seeing objects close up clearly, so over time reading a book, newspaper or using the phone or computer becomes increasingly inconvenient.

Reduced elasticity of the intraocular lens and ciliary muscle is responsible for all this, resulting in a weakening of the ability to focus vision on close objects. This is why we notice the so-called “long arm syndrome” – the need to move objects (such as books) away from the eyes in order to read the text written on them.

The effect of presbyopia can be eliminated by laser, but only in people who have a visual defect that is corrected with glasses or contact lenses. While laser correction of vision defects is for life, when it comes to presbyopia, it is only a temporary fix for its effect. The physiological process of its progression with age cannot be stopped.

The result of laser vision correction surgery for presbyopia is monovision. It gives better vision to the non-dominant eye at close range, this eye is corrected so that the remaining visual defect is -0.75 to -1.5 diopters, while the correction of the dominant eye is established for looking far away, i.e. the defect in this eye is corrected completely. The method of laser vision correction, on the other hand, is selected based on the parameters of the eye’s cornea.

The result of laser vision correction can be checked before the surgery with the use of contact lenses and if it is satisfactory then the surgery can be performed.