Can You Have Regular Lasik and then Change to Mono Vision Lasik?

Question

Christopher Coad, MD · Answer

Yes, but consider trial contact lenses to be certain that you understand the post operative results/outcome.

Mark Golden, MD · Answer

As people age, they lose the ability to focus up close.  By the time that most individuals are in their mid forties and have good vision for distance they will need glasses for reading.  Just like someone who was born with naturally good vision for distance, those with LASIK are in the same situation.  Monovision can be a great solution for some people.  In my experience about one half of people enjoy monovision and the other half don't.  Testing can be done to determine who would be a good monovision candidate.  If the previous LASIK was in the last few years, most surgeons would consider lifting the flap and add the treatment needed for monovision.  If LASIK had been done more than a few years previously, few surgeons are comfortable lifting such flaps.  Several options are still available with present technology.  One would be Surface Ablation also known as PRK which uses the same laser as LASIK but does not involve lifting a flap.  This is a great solution because it is a permanent change to the cornea.  Conductive Keratoplasty (CK) is a very different technique where a probe touches the cornea 8 times in a ring shaped pattern which causes shrinkage of the corneal collagen and a steepening of the cornea.  The nice part of CK is very fast healing.  The downsides include that it is not permanent.  Former LASIK patients tend to have a better response to CK and non-LASIK patients.  The other problem is that many surgeons do not have access to this technology.  Alternatively a lens could be placed in the eye to give reading vision.  When I wanted to have reading vision, I first chose CK twice and then went to LASIK for a permanent fix so that I could have reading vision.

Jon Dishler, MD, FACS · Answer

It depends on many things whether having another LASIK procedure for monovision is a good idea.  If the original LASIK was many years ago (as I suspect) then you run a much higher risk of complications having it done again for monovision.  Specifically, the risks of epithelial ingrowth which is when a layer of the skin of the eye grows under the flap can be problematic.  In general it is best to decide what the refractive goal is and not make a later change.

Sandy Feldman, MD · Answer

You can usually have an enhancement to perform monovision LASIK after Distance LASIK.  If there is not enough corneal tissue, another laser vision correction may be possible, known as Advanced Surface Ablation.

Christopher Starr, MD · Answer

In monovision LASIK or PRK we leave the non-dominant eye a little nearsighted in order to allow comfortable reading with that eye. The other eye is corrected for distance vision. This procedure is only performed on patients in the presbyopic age group, typically above the age of 40. Before inducing monovision surgically I always have my patients try it out first with a lengthy contact lens trial as this can help avoid the situation you are in now.

	The good news is that you can have the nearsighted or reading eye corrected for full distance vision which would eliminate your monovision situation. The bad news is that you will immediately need reading glasses to see up close, so be absolutely sure that you have given it enough time to fully evaluate it. I would recommend trying it for about 4 to 6 months before undergoing another surgery to reverse it.

Can You Have Regular Lasik and then Change to Mono Vision Lasik?

Answers (7)

Answer: Monovision LASIK after Distance LASIK

Answer: Monovision LASIK after Distance LASIK

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Can You Have Regular Lasik and then Change to Mono Vision Lasik?

Answers (7)

Answer: Monovision LASIK after Distance LASIK

Answer: Monovision LASIK after Distance LASIK

Answer: Good question

Answer: Good question

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Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about LASIK

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.