Best LASIK in Kansas City offers a solution for mixed nearsighted and farsighted vision. This article explains the causes of this condition and how LASIK surgery can customize treatment to provide clear vision at any distance. Discover what to expect during the procedure and the typical results afterward.
What Causes Nearsightedness and Farsightedness?
The shape of the eye is the key factor that determines if someone will be nearsighted, farsighted, or can you be nearsighted and farsighted. Nearsightedness, also called myopia, happens when the eyeball is elongated. This causes light rays to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, resulting in blurry distant vision. Farsightedness, also called hyperopia, is caused by a shorter eyeball shape that makes light rays focus behind the retina, leading to blurry near vision. Some individuals can actually have one nearsighted eye and one farsighted eye. This occurs when the two eyes develop slightly different lengths or shapes during childhood. Having one elongated eye and one shorter eye leads to differences in focusing ability between the two eyes. This mixed nearsighted and farsighted vision requires different vision corrections in each eye to compensate for the variations in eye shape and length.
Understanding Mixed Nearsighted/Farsighted Vision
Having one nearsighted eye and one farsighted eye, known as mixed astigmatism or anisometropia, presents several vision challenges. With one eye able to see near objects clearly while the other sees far away clearly, focusing ability fluctuates between the two eyes. The nearsighted eye causes blurry distance vision while the farsighted eye struggles to see things up close. Having two different focusing distances in each eye makes tasks requiring sharp vision at multiple ranges difficult. Symptoms of this mixed vision include eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision depending on what the eyes are trying to focus on. The constantly changing visual input from the two eyes with different refractive errors can lead to difficulty reading, problems driving, and impaired depth perception. Managing two separate prescription strengths is also a headache.
How LASIK Surgery Can Help
LASIK surgery provides a customized solution to correct both nearsightedness and farsightedness in the same procedure. Using advanced wavefront technology, the laser ablation profile is tailored to precisely match the unique shape and refractive errors in each individual eye. Rather than optimizing vision for one distance, the LASIK treatment is personalized to reshape the cornea in a way that improves visual range in both eyes together. The laser can accurately treat the nearsightedness in one eye while also correcting the farsightedness in the other eye during the same surgery. By addressing both focusing issues at the same time, LASIK provides the benefits of clear vision at all distances. Patients experience reliable sharp sight whether looking at near or far objects after LASIK corrects their mixed astigmatism.
What to Expect During LASIK for Mixed Vision
To prepare for LASIK, the surgeon will do a comprehensive evaluation analyzing the unique shape, length, and refractive errors in each of your eyes. This allows them to plan the ideal laser treatment to correct your particular mixed nearsighted and farsighted situation. During the procedure, a flap will be created in the cornea of each eye. The surgeon will then lift the flap and the laser will reshape the cornea according to the specific ablation pattern calculated for that eye to treat its refractive error. The laser can precisely customize the corneal correction, treating the nearsightedness in one eye while also correcting the farsightedness in the fellow eye. After the laser reshapes the cornea, the flap is replaced in each eye to protect the treated area as it heals. This process is repeated for both eyes in the same surgical setting.
Recovery and Results After LASIK
In the days following LASIK, it is normal to experience some mild eye discomfort and blurry vision as the eyes heal from the corneal reshaping. Vision will begin to improve within the first week but can continue to get sharper over the next few weeks to months. The goal after LASIK is for patients to achieve 20/20 vision or better in both eyes, now that the nearsightedness and farsightedness has been corrected. Glasses or contact lenses are typically no longer needed after recovery, providing clear natural vision at all ranges. While the majority of patients achieve excellent visual outcomes from their LASIK treatment, there is a possibility that some enhancement surgery may be recommended down the road if any residual focusing issues remain. With the customized laser correction, LASIK provides an effective solution for mixed astigmatism, improving vision clarity and freeing patients from vision correction aids.
Are You a Candidate for LASIK?
There are a few key qualifications to evaluate when considering your candidacy for LASIK. First, your vision prescription should demonstrate a refractive error that is stable. Your nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism will need to have stabilized and not changed more than a small amount over the past 1-2 years. Your ophthalmologist will want to ensure your vision has reached a point where it is unlikely to fluctuate further as you age. Being in good health is also important for LASIK candidacy. You should be free of any diseases or medical conditions that could impair healing or affect your surgery outcome.
Your age is another factor to consider, as LASIK is only approved for patients over 18 years old. While there is no official upper age limit, results can be less predictable for extreme prescriptions as you get older. For women, you should not be pregnant or nursing at the time of your evaluation or surgery, as this can change vision and corneal anatomy. Having realistic expectations about the possibilities and limitations of LASIK is also key. While most achieve 20/20 vision or close, there is a small chance you could still need glasses or contacts occasionally afterward for night driving or reading.
Conclusion
For patients with a mix of nearsightedness and farsightedness, LASIK eye surgery offers a customized solution to improve visual range in both eyes. Using advanced laser technology, surgeons can individually treat each eye’s refractive error during the same procedure. After recovery, most LASIK patients experience reliably clear vision at all distances without glasses or contacts. By correcting mixed astigmatism, LASIK not only improves eyesight but quality of life. If you have been struggling with a complex vision prescription, LASIK could provide the visual freedom you deserve. Schedule a consultation today to see if you may be a candidate.