If you have presbyopia, can you have corrective surgery to restore near focus without affecting your otherwise normal distance vision?
MAR 10, 2014
Question:
If you have presbyopia, can you have corrective surgery to restore near focus without affecting your otherwise normal distance vision?
Answer:
There are several options, but it depends on whether you have a cataract that is significant or mature enough to require surgery. Let’s address your question from the view that you do not have a significant cataract, but rather someone who wants refractive surgery such as LASIK surgery. The short answer is no. However, you can choose to focus one eye at distance and the other up close (this is called monovision). This is ideal for individuals who are older than 40 years of age and best for those who have tried this already with contact lenses. LASIK surgery can only help a person focus either at distance or near, but not both, unless you choose the monovision option.
If you have a cataract that is mature enough for surgery, the answer to your question is yes. The lens options for cataract surgery are quite diverse. With cataract surgery, the cloudy lens, or the cataract, is removed resulting in complete loss of focusing power of the eye. Consequently, you will require a lens implant at the time of your surgery. We have lenses that can focus near or far and now a lens that can do both called multifocal and accommodating lenses.