Presbyopia Treatment: Your Guide to LASIK and Recovery

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists recommend having laser eye surgery after the age of 18. However, at Oculase, we recommend having laser eye surgery after the age of 21. It is very important to ensure that your prescription is stable before proceeding with any sort of treatment. Most people assume that you can have laser eye surgery only in your 20s or 30s. This is incorrect. After the age of 40, people develop a condition called presbyopia where you need reading glasses in additions to your distance glasses. This can be corrected with laser eye surgery, with a treatment called PresbyLASIK or Monovision LASIK. In this treatment, you would have one eye corrected for distance and another eye corrected for reading. After the age of 55, consideration is given to a lens-based treatment, such as refractive lens exchange. In this procedure, your natural lens is replaced with a multifocal lens, allowing you to see in the distance and near without glasses. Laser eye surgery can be used to refine this treatment to give you good vision.

Presbyopia is a condition that is seen in people after the age of 40. In presbyopia, you need to wear reading glasses in addition to any distance glasses that you may already be wearing. Presbyopia can be corrected with either laser eye surgery or lens replacement surgery. In laser eye surgery, in most people who would correct one eye for distance and the other eye for reading, allowing you to see and do most things without glasses. In lens replacement or refractive lens exchange, the natural lens is replaced with a multifocal lens, allowing you to see and do most things without glasses. This would also correct any prescription that you may have and treat any cataracts you may develop later on in life. Usually, we reserve refractive lens exchange or lens replacement surgery for people above the age of 50 or 55.

Millions of laser vision correction procedures such as LASIK and TransPRK have been done worldwide over the past 30 years with excellent outcomes. Longterm data over the past 30 years published in peer review journals through large randomised trials have shown it to be safe and effective. We are able to assess people using our diagnostic tools, which are modern and have AI power technology to screen out those who are not suitable for laser vision correction. Modern laser platforms, such as the one we use at Oculase, ensures we give our patients the best outcomes. The longterm safety and efficacy of laser eye surgery has resulted in an over 90% satisfaction rate from patients in large clinical trials.

Laser eye surgery can be used to treat myopia or shortsightedness. Generally, we would treat anyone up to a prescription of about -10 diopters. If you have prescription above this, you may be suitable for a different procedure, such as implantable contact lens surgery. Your suitability for the surgery is dependent on your scans and the health of your eye.

The effects of laser eye surgery or laser vision correction stay with you for your whole life. However, as one ages and your eyeball changes in shape and in length, a little bit of prescription can recur again. If that were to happen, very often you have the option of having top-up laser to make you once again glasses or contact lenses free. Regardless, after the age of 45, everyone needs reading glasses. This has nothing to do with the effects of the laser, but in fact because the lens inside your eye is losing its elastic ability to focus on close objects. At that point in time, you have the option of either wearing reading glasses or contact lenses or having top-up laser to correct your reading vision or having refractive lens exchange surgery to make you glasses and contact lenses free.

Laser eye surgery, or laser vision correction, is a very safe procedure, as thousands of these are performed worldwide every day. However, there are some side effects or risks that you need to be aware of. The most common side effect after surgery is grittiness and pain and blurred vision. With LASIK, this can last for about 24 hours after the surgery. With PRK, it’s a bit longer, for about three to five days after surgery. However, at one week, with both surgeries, your vision is a lot clearer, and you’re able to do most activities. You may find that at one week, your vision is very good, but you are noticing some glare, especially when looking at bright lights or the computer. This usually resolves over a few weeks. Some people also notice an initial eye strain after the surgery, which generally gets better over a few weeks as your eyes adapt to your newfound vision. The final important issue is that some people experience dry eyes after the surgery. In general, most people find that the dry eyes gets better after three months. I myself have had laser eye surgery, and my eyes were initially dry for a short period after surgery, but this has now resolved and rarely ever causes me a problem.

Presbyopia is a condition where one loses their ability to read or focus on closeup objects. This develops in everyone after the age of 45. However, you could develop it a little earlier on in life or a little later on in life. It can be treated either with laser eye surgery or refractive lens exchange, depending on your age and your suitability for either procedure.