Laser Eye Surgery for older patients

The last thing you want as you get older is to have surgery.

The uncomfortable feeling of being in hospital, the lengthy recovery times, the hassle and expense — not to mention the worry the procedure won’t work as desired.

But all that is nothing compared to if the surgery is directly related to the fact you’re getting older. Like you don’t feel awkward enough with your gown and bare buttocks, you have the added embarrassment of being seen as a geriatric or ‘elderly’ person who needs extra special care.

So rather than swallow their pride and suck it up for a few days or weeks or months — however long the process drags on for — many people simply say no thanks and opt instead to endure their affliction to the bitter end.

If you happen to be particularly proud and the problem in question is your eyesight, then this is how things usually pan out. Sure, you can barely read the newspaper anymore and suffer from frequent migraines, but rather that than being seen wearing reading glasses and looking like your mother or going to the clinic for surgery.

Laser Eye Surgery: Nothing like your typical surgical procedure

Although it’s in the name, Laser Eye Surgery is far from your typical surgical procedure. It’s a bit too long winded to have as its title, but a better way to describe it would be a minimally-invasive vision correction treatment based on laser technology.

And when you go to a Laser Eye Surgery clinic, you’ll see what I mean. Independent and high-quality clinics are designed to be as relaxing and welcoming as possible, making you feel like you’re in some utopian health spa rather than your local hospital ward.

What’s more, rather than being segregated into individual wards, a clinic is a hive of people of all different ages — from teens to grandmas and everyone in between. Not that you’ll be spending much time there: the hours you’ll actually be in the clinic can be counted on one hand. Yet with the calming environment and the caring staff who go above and beyond to make sure you’re comfortable (chocolates and head massages included), you’ll wish you could stay longer.

All in all, many patients consider Laser Eye Surgery a pleasant experience —  from the initial phone call to the incredibly short procedure to the final 12-month aftercare appointment. Rest assured, any perceived hassle from the media or presumptions from past experiences of surgery will nothing like from what you’ll experience from a high-quality Laser Eye Surgery clinic.

Treating presbyopia with Laser Eye Surgery

Prof Reinstein answers the question, ‘What is PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision?’

With that out the way, we can now look at why Laser Eye Surgery is worth the expense and is a better option than existing, cheaper treatment methods for presbyopia.

When researching the market of presbyopia treatments, you’re likely to first encounter bifocals, trifocals, and progressive lenses. These types of glasses lenses are split into areas that vary in power, each refracting light in such a way to allow you to see objects better either at a distance or up-close, depending on where you focus and the type of lens. Progressive lenses are the latest of the three and were designed to resolve the ‘image jump’ issue which occurs due to the defined boundaries between lens areas of bifocals and trifocals, although many people don’t adapt to the way of seeing of progressive lenses.

Progressive lenses are the latest of the three and were designed to resolve the ‘image jump’ issue which occurs due to the defined boundaries between lens areas of bifocals and trifocals, although many people don’t adapt to the way of seeing of progressive lenses.

The next options you’ll come across will be monovision and multifocal contact lenses. Monovision lenses correct one eye for distance vision and the other for close-up vision. It takes time to adapt to monovision lenses and train your brain to see this way. And many find they lose your ability to judge something’s distance or speed while wearing them — if they’re suitable in the first place (the suitability rate being just over half).

Multifocal contacts are like bifocal or trifocal lenses in that they have several rings or zones set at different powers within each lens. In this way, you can use near and far vision at the same time, with your brain selecting the right focus for what you need. It is common, however, for vision to be less sharp than with ordinary lenses.

The final option you’ll discover is monovision surgery, which works in a similar way to monovision lenses: adjusting one eye to work best up close and the other best at a distance. It too fails to overcome the problem of the ‘blur zone’ between the near and far, and comes with its own downsides and risks. 

This is where the latest and greatest option rears its head: PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision. Why PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision is so revolutionary is in the name; it adjusts vision in a way that it is blended and seamless across both near and distance vision.

The procedure works by adjusting one eye to work mainly at a distance, but a little up close, while the other to work mainly up close, but a little at distance. Unlike monovision and other treatment options, patients with PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision achieve optimal visual acuity over the full depth of vision.

The best thing about it? Up to 97 percent of patients are suitable for the treatment and it can eliminate the need for reading glasses and contacts for many years, if not for good.

Don’t settle for poor treatment options for presbyopia. Find out more about PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision today by contacting one of our Patient Care Coordinators.