Correcting monovision with contact lenses is one way of solving focusing problems associated with presbyopia. Here's what it is and how it works.
First, what is presbyopia?
If you're over 40, you may find that your arms aren't long enough to read a menu or newspaper. If this is the case, you have presbyopia. Throughout our life, the crystalline lens, which is the natural lens of your eye, gradually loses its elasticity that allows you to move from distance vision to near vision. This function is called accommodation. The loss of accommodation (presbyopia) is physiological and affects everyone after 40. It continues until the age of 50 when virtually all lens flexibility disappears. Many people experience the effects of presbyopia in their 40s when they are forced to hold the material they are reading at arm's length to focus clearly.
What is monovision?
Monovision contact lenses is one of the most common ways to correct presbyopia after the age of 40. Monovision aims to correct one eye (dominant) for distance vision and leave the other eye slightly myopic to provide more functional vision at close range. This method offers an alternative for functional distance and near vision.
Monovision allows for an effective correction of presbyopia in nearly 75% of cases. However, since the method is a compromise, there is a period of adaptation to be expected on the quality of vision.
- Each eye can only see clearly at one distance (one eye at a distance and the other at close range). Vision may not be perfect under all circumstances;
- Depth perception may be reduced by the difference in images between the two eyes;
- Blurring of one eye may cause halos around lights at night.
Ask your IRIS optometrist to try monovision contact lenses for a few days. This way, you will be able to know if this alternative is suitable for you. Book your appointment here.
