With age, people increasingly lose their ability to accommodate, that is, change focus from distance to near. Eventually (usually starting in one's 40's) they are no longer able to see well enough at near to read, at which point they may need reading glasses or, if they already wear glasses, they may need multifocal lenses (one lens for near and one for distance).
Presbyopes should be cautious in approaching laser eye surgery and setting their expectations from it. Currently, except with monovision (a technique where each eye is given a different prescription) laser eye surgery cannot give good vision at both near and far simultaneously. A reasonable goal of a presbyope from refractive surgery would be to reduce their dependence on glasses for distance vision only. |
