Is it normal?

[love2fly]

I had Lasik surgery a little over a year ago, at the age of 49. I'm a healthy individual; the procedure went well, and I recovered quickly. I was advised because of my age I would lose more of my near vision and would need glasses for reading. I was fine with that. What I wasn't expecting was to need reading glasses for everything close. I am non functioning individual without my glasses, I cannot read any small print, so product labels are a challenge to me. What is much more aggravating and something I was not aware of, is that I need much, much more light to see objects close to me. If I want to trim my nails, open a can or read a map, any simple task, I have to have nothing short of a 100W lightbulb shining directly onto what I'm trying to see. How does this relate to lasik and is it within the usual side effects?

[William Trattler MD]

This is not a side effect. You are noticing what happens if you have excellent distance vision at the age of 49. Whether it is due to LASIK or occurs naturally - 49 year olds can not read without glasses if both eyes are optimized for distance. I see numerous patients who have had wonderful vision their entire lives - who start to experience the same issues as they enter into their mid to late 40's.

The only option is to try to purposely under-correct one of the eyes. That means that you would see your doctor about some surgery to make one eye just a little near-sighted.

Best regards

Bill Trattler, MD