Are there any exercises I can be doing to speed the adjustment to monovision? I got my Lasik three days ago, and am following all the fost -op instructions, but I gotta say the monovision is driving be a little batty.

I honestly didn't realize the difference in vision would be so great between my eyes.

SO, in the spirit of 'Gee, I probably can't get an enhancement for three months', is there anything I can be doing to help things along?

Regards,

Dana VanZandt
Geneva, FL

Oh, and I'm not having any headaches, dizziness, or other discomforts... just the blurriness, and the maddening desire to see as clearly as when I wore my contacts. I may be having a little dryness, but not much.

Regards,

Dana VanZandt

Did you try monovision with contacts? If it worked with contacts, id find out why it didnt with lasik. Maybe you regressed or got some astigmastim. I assume you couldnt tolerate contacts well and hated glasses hence the reason for lasik. What was your pescription before lasik?

Thanks for your interest! I have worn glasses since I was 7, and contact lenses since I was 10. I didn't try monovision lenses, but the monovision lasik sounded like a good solution for eventual presbyopia. I don't have it now, but I'm 40, and it is coming. This could be why I haven't adjusted yet. After all, this is day 4, post surgery.

My contact lens prescription was -7.5 in both eyes.

I got Lasik because I have been nearsighted so long, and I wanted to be free of it. If I have to enhance my reading eye back to match the other eye, I will. I hated not being able to see the world.... but I won't mind wearing glasses when I want to read about it!

I'm not giving up on the monovision... I just want to know if there is anything I can actively do to help my eyes adjust? I'm patient, but I wouldn't mind having something to do while I wait!

Dana

How well do you see in each eye now? How undercorrected is your non dormant eye? If the undercorrection is great it can take longer to adjust. If after 3 months you arent happy you can either get an enhancement which carries more risks or just wear a low minus contact on that eye if you can tolerate them. You were probably about a -9 in glasses which is definately high so I can see your motivation to reduce your myopia for good.

Perhaps do alot of reading and while you are at it, test with each eye. You will find the undercorrected eye sees much clearer and can "zoom" in closer. I am familar with presbyopia having mild presbyopia myself things are readable but not clear from near unless I take my glasses off.

Dana,
Just wondering how the monovision is now? I recently 5 days ago had the surgery and right now hate it. I can't see at a distance from either eye. Just wondering if there is hope.

I did a contacts trial for monovision prior to enhancing one eye for distance and leaving the other at -1 for reading. The contact worked great and so I went in for the surgery on my dominant eye. At first I was unhappy with the results. I could see close up OK with the non-doinant eye, but my enhanced eye wasn't seeing great at any distance. OK, but not great. Turns out, I had some epithelial cells under the flap in the enhanced eye. After a lift and cleanout, my distance vision improved, and after a few more weeks of settling down, my vision is very similar to what it was with contacts. I am about 20/25 for distance. I can read OK for short periods, but when sitting down to read for a long time i use +1 readers. All in all I am very happy with my result, although it was more of a process than a quick fix. I had my first Lasik in May of 04 (both eyes) and was finally happy by June of 05. So be patient, ask lots of questions and work with your doc. Maybe you have some cells under the flap that are just enocugh to distort your distance vision.....
Sue

How is the monovision now??

Overall, I am happy with the results, but that dosn't mean that some days are better than others even at 10 months post epi clean out, one year post enhancement, and nearly two years out from my original Lasik. Most of my vision issues are related to dryness (very bad when its 10 below here) or being on the computer too much, which makes my near eye fuzz out. I would say that I have learned to go with the flow and not be quite so picky about my vision. They tell you over and over again that the prefect LASIK candidate is someone who would be happy with less than perfect vision, but I see over and over again on this board that people's very high expectations are not met.

Overall my distance vision is about 20/25. This is fine with me. If I wanterd perfect distance vision I would not have had the surgery. But then I would still be putting up with all of the hassels related to coke bottom glasses and bifocals!

I think that EVERYONE has to realize that Lasik or PRK or whatever is not always a quick fix but is more often a process that takes time, and that there are compromises. My dr was great about explaining this and the after care has been supurb. I do realize that not everyone has had this standard of care, so I can see why there are post surgical problems or misunderstandings regarding expectations.

Good luck with your monovision, and I would certainly recommend getting some type of glasses or contacts to tide you over until your process is complete....maybe even for up to two years...