Laser Blended Vision

Recently a treatment called blended vision has been developed. It is used to treat presbyopia, a condition that occurs due to the ageing of your eye, which causes problems when looking at objects that are close to you. By treating one eye to look at images up close and leaving the other, you will be able to see properly again after a short period of adjustment.

Laser blended vision or monovision is a LASIK based procedure, whereby the surgeon corrects each eye for a different type of vision.   


How is Laser Blended Vision surgery performed?

Before the procedure can go ahead, your ophthalmologist must first ascertain which of your eyes is dominant and which is non-dominant. Once this has been found out, your ophthalmologist will use the LASIK procedure to make your non-dominant eye short sighted, so that it can see objects that are close up well.  Your dominant eye should already be able to see objects that are far away well, so this eye is left well alone, unless it requires any type of correction.

Am I suitable for Laser Blended Vision?

Before you decide to have this type of surgery, your ophthalmologist will want to ensure that it is the best procedure for you. The surgeon will take into account a number of factors before they decide if you should have the treatment, some of these are your occupation, general and eye health and type of life you lead. If you are able to see well and you are in a good state of health, then it is likely that surgery is a good option. How much correction each of your eyes will need depends on your current prescription.

What can Laser Blended Vision be used to treat?

This specific type of surgery is used to treat a number of different conditions, including

Laser Blended Vision  for Presbyopia

Presbyopia is predominantly found in old people and occurs when your eyes age naturally, leading to you needing reading glasses. In simple terms it is age induced hyperopia (long sightedness) and is due to the lens becoming harder. Usually people who have presbyopia use reading glasses and/or contact lenses. If you have presbyopia, there are two main types of contact lenses you can use to help correct your vision, these are bifocal lenses or monovision lenses. The difference is that bifocal lenses allow you to see objects up close and far away, whereas monovision lenses correct one eye for seeing objects up close and the other to see objects far away. If you don’t want to have to wear contact lenses or glasses, you can consider having laser blended vision surgery.

Laser Blended Vision for Myopia (short sight)

Myopia is a problem where you can’t see objects that are far away well, unless you use contact lenses or glasses. LASIK blended vision is able to correct this effectively, just as in the treatment of presbyopia.

Laser Blended Vision for Hyperopia (long sight)

Hyperopia is a condition where you can see objects that are far away clearly, whereas objects up close seem blurry. To correct this problem you will need surgery on both your eyes. The surgeon will correct your dominant eye so that it can see distance objects well, and make your other eye able to see object that are up close. It will then take you a while to get used to having blended vision.

Laser Blended Vision for Astigmatism

The last type of conditions able to be treated by blended vision. Astigmatism is a problem that is caused by an irregular corneal surface. It causes different parts of the same image to be in and out of focus. To correct this problem, both eyes will require laser eye surgery.

What are the disadvantages to Laser Blended Vision?

The aim of this surgery is to produce one eye that sees objects close up, whilst the other sees objects that are far away. This can produce problems initially, as you may feel dizzy or nauseous until your brain adjusts to this new method. This is usually quickly, as the brain begins to ‘blend’ the images from both eyes together, to produce corrected vision. As with all laser eye procedures, there are risks and side effects of the treatment. You should understand these before you decide to go ahead.


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