Reading Glasses Treatment?

Dave Allamby | Jun 30, 2010 | Comments 2

Gill asked this question about laser eye surgery for varifocal and reading glasses:

Dear Mr Allamby, I was told last year by my optician I would benefit from varifocal lenses, which I hate. My prescription was:
R: Plano (zero) /-2.75 x 180
L: Plano (zero) /-1.25 x 175
Near Add: +1.50D
I am 51 years old. I had a consultation for corrective surgery and told I only need right eye done. Is this correct and how much would this be likely to cost at Focus? Thank you, (brilliant and most helpful blog by the way)
Gill

Hi Gill, You have myopic (short-sighted) astigmatism, with mild astigmatism in the left eye and a moderately higher amount in the right. Additionally, at age 51 you also have presbyopia, which is an age related loss of near vision (itself a form of long-sight). So you have three eye conditions together – myopia, astigmatism and presbyopia, which all need correcting (!) if you want to be pretty independent of glasses. However, correction is certainly possible.

I specialise in correcting these kind of prescriptions, over the last 7-8 years, and have done thousands of cases. I would need to assess which is the dominant eye and correct that eye fully. However, contrary to what the other clinic said, leaving astigmatism in the eye which is to read rarely is successful. So with your prescription I almost always treat both eyes. Of course, everything depends on what we find at the consultation, but this will give you a strong idea of what you likely need.

I charge just under £4,000 for both eyes for wavefront Ziemer Z-LASIK. If you want me personally to do your initial consultation rather than one of my team, add £200. The blended vision presbyopia treatments will be increasing soon, likely to £4,400 for both eyes.

Hope that helps explain somewhat Gill. If you post on the comments below, your reply will also come to me.

Filed Under: Questions • Reading Vision

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About the Author: Mr. Dave Allamby FRCS FRCOphth is a leading London-based laser eye surgeon. You may have seen him on the This Morning TV show with Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton or read one of several articles in the national press, recently for treating Denise Van Outen, rock giant Rick Wakeman and broadcaster Paul Ross. David is Medical Director at Focus Laser Vision, known as a world-leading clinic in the treatment of presbyopia, or age related loss of close vision. Focus Laser Vision is also London's only clinic to offer next-generation Z-LASIK laser eye treatment for short sight, long sight or astigmatism.

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  1. Gill says:
    July 1, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    Hi Dave, Thank you for the information; it has certainly given me food for thought and I’m so glad I didn’t just go with the other clinic’s recommendation. To have the procedure at Focus would be ideal, I will have to see if I can manage it before September. Another question for you; I occasionally have a visual migraine, is this caused by my astigmatism? Kind regards, Gill

    Reply
    • Dave Allamby says:
      July 2, 2010 at 10:32 am

      Gill, Look forward to seeing you then. Your visual migraine isn’t caused by astigmatism. Migraines can be produced by the body’s neurological responses to certain triggers such as hormonal changes, flashing lights or chemicals in foods or medications. During migraine processes, changes also may take place in blood flow to the area of the brain responsible for vision (visual cortex or occipital lobe). Resulting ophthalmic or ocular migraines commonly can produce visual symptoms even without a headache. Regards, Dave

      Reply

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