I am a 52-yr-old male who has been wearing bifocals. I had Lasik surgery four days in hopes of finally ditching my glasses. I was told upfront that I would need reading glasses. But, post-op, I'm disappointed at how poor my upclose vision is when compared to before the surgery. I can no longer read a single line of newsprint, a map or the ingredients on a package without reading glasses. Before, I could. Now it looks like I'm back to square one -- minus $1,000 -- and may need to buy some sort of bifocals again that I will likely have to wear all the time. Distances are fine, but I can't spend my life fumbling for reading glasses every two minutes. And this inconvenience affects my career, since I'm constantly at a computer, moving my vision between the screen and papers on the desk. My question is, Do you recommend bifocals and how long should I wait before I get them, since there seems to be a "settling in" period post-op? Do many patients have to revert to bifocals after surgery?

It's possible that you are "overcorrected" i.e. actually farsighted now. This is not uncommon early on after LASIK and does have a tendency to improve. It could be that as time goes on, you will find that you can function at the computer, read a menu and perform other less demanding near tasks without glasses but require glasses for reading books, newspapers, directions etc. Isn't this what you understood you were getting into? If farsightedness is not your problem you may be a candidate for mono-vision (where one is is purposely made a little nearsighted to aid with near tasks). If you are considering this, ask your surgeon to let you try this in contacts first before undergoing enhancement.
Don't despair, it is still early. Please discuss your concerns frankly with your surgeon. (I hope you will be seeing him soon).

Demetrian Dornic, MD

Didn't you discuss this with your surgeon before
the surgery? Did you discuss monovision?
Leonard Friedman MD Washington DC>>............

Note that Surgilight (www.surgilight.com) has a laser that correct presbyopia up to about 3 diopters. It is currenty awaiting FDA approval in the U.S. but is available in Canada and the Bahamas. It works by reshaping the eye to give the inner lens in the eye more room to focus. It seems to be an improvement over the circular clips used for Surgical Reversal of Presbyopia developed by Presby Corp.