Presbyopia Treatment

For the patients with the following conditions presbyopia treatment or presbyopia, surgery is not recommended.

● Pregnant patients
● Patients with diabetes
● Patients suffering from other eye problems such as glaucoma or cataract
● Patients born with a larger diameter pupil or a very thin cornea

How long should you stay in the hospital after the surgery? 

Overnight stay is not required

An eye examination is required to decide on the patient’s suitability for the presbyopia treatment since the condition is very similar to myopia. A couple of days before the presbyopia treatment, patients need to stop wearing contact lenses and makeup. Since contact lenses might be harmful to the cornea and the makeup may interfere with the presbyopia treatment.

Generally, presbyopia treatment is performed under local anesthesia. A very precise excimer laser is used for this procedure. As the anesthesia starts showing its effect, the doctors start using the excimer laser to reshape the cornea, thus correcting far, near and intermediate vision. The laser can be applied to one or both eyes. Also, the procedure takes only around 10 minutes. After the operation, the patients would regain their good vision at all distances.

A day after the presbyopia treatment, patients can continue working and normal activities. A couple of weeks after the procedure, the patient can drive. Touching and rubbing the eyes should be avoided. Also, after the operation, swimming in the ocean is forbidden. After the operation in order to provide a successful process, the eye doctor would give the patients eye drops and a set of guidelines.

Presbyopia treatment has several risks and complications, which are an infection in the eye region and revision surgery.

Presbyopia treatment has several side effects which involve itchiness in the eyes, redness around the eyes, dry eyes, and increased sensitivity to light.

Presbyopia treatment has a success rate around 77%.

After the operation, for some of the patients reading glasses might be needed in dim light, but many patients enjoy near-perfect vision in 2-3 weeks after the presbyopia treatment.

- Is the procedure painful?
No, the procedure does not cause pain to the patients, but mild discomfort caused by dry or itchy eyes can be experienced. These post-op effects of the presbyopia treatment are easily soothed with eye drops which will be provided by the eye doctor.

- Can it compromise the patient’s distance vision?
No, presbyopia treatment using the excimer laser has no ill effect on the patient’s distance vision. Even if the patient may be a part of the 23% that still relies on glasses after the surgery, the patient’s vision will not be affected in any way by the presbyopia treatment.

- How long do the effects of this procedure last?
The patients can benefit from the results of presbyopia surgery for 20-30 years. There is no limit to the effects of the presbyopia treatment. However, the patients might experience other sight issues such as cataract, but these conditions can be treated simply through other interventions.

This content is written and reviewed by our medical content team in September, 2019.