I have myopia and currently wear glasses with progressive lenses. I am assuming that if I have lasik surgery I will still need to wear reading glasses. Would it be possible to adjust my vision just enough to see clearly, say up to 15 or 20 feet, and eliminate the need for reading glasses? I would much rather wear glasses to correct the distance past 20 feet than wear glasses for reading or talking to someone.

Leonard,

Whatever vision correction is possible with contact lenses, it can be targeted with Lasik laser eye surgery. If you find that being corrected for near vision is most appropriate for your lifestyle, then it is possible to have that type of correction with a laser. There are a few limitations, but they would depend upon the exact nature of your eyes, type of surgery, etc.

You may want to consider monovision. Monovision is when one eye is made myopic (nearsighted, shortsighted) for near vision and the other eye is fully corrected for distance vision. After a while the brain figures out how to use the different corrections to your advantage. We have an article about monovision at
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasik-monovision.htm

Whether you decide on monovision, slightly myopic, or full correction with reading glasses, you ABSOLUTELY need to try the proposed correction with contact lenses for at least several weeks. In theory these may sound fine, but nothing screws up a perfectly good theory faster than reality. Wearing contacts will give you the reality of your lifestyle with that particular correction.

Glenn Hagele
http://USAEyes.org
Lasik Patient Advocacy & Surgeon Certification

I am not a doctor.