Laser Vision Correction Boston

Common Conditions

Myopia

Myopia occurs when the cornea is too curved or the eye is too long. This causes light to focus in front of the retina, resulting in blurry distance vision. Myopia is a hereditary condition that is very common. It normally starts to appear between the ages of eight and twelve years old, and almost always before the age of twenty. As the body ages, the condition often worsens. It typically stabilizes in adulthood.  

Symptoms of Myopia
Blurry distance vision. But, if it is occurring in your child, how will you know about it? Many times, parents may notice that their child is having difficulty seeing the television, or a teacher may notice that a child is struggling to see the chalkboard. Or, myopia may be diagnosed in a school eye screening.

Treating Myopia
If you or your child has myopia, glasses and contact lenses may be used for temporary treatment. There are several procedures performed at  The Nielsen Eye Center that can surgically reduce or eliminate myopia.

Farsightedness

Farsightedness or hyperopia occurs when the cornea is too flat, causing light to focus at a point beyond the retina. This results in blurry close vision. Occasionally, blurry distance vision will occur when suffering from farsightedness. Because the young eye can compensate for this condition, it may not be detected until later in life.

Symptoms
Blurry close vision, and occasional blurry distance vision.

Diagnosing Hyperopia
A complete eye exam is necessary to diagnose farsightedness. Because school screenings test distance vision, farsightedness may not be detected in your child. The professionals at The Nielsen Eye Center can conduct a refractive evaluation to determine whether your eyes focus light rays exactly on the retina at distance and near. A visual acuity test will determine your ability to see sharply and clearly at all distances. During your examination, we will also check your eye coordination and muscle control, as well as your eyes' ability to change focus. All of these are important factors in how your eyes see.

Treating Hyperopia
If you or your child has myopia, glasses and contact lenses may be used for temporary treatment. There are several procedures performed at The Nielsen Eye Center that can surgically reduce or eliminate hyperopia.

Presbyopia

With normal vision, we can focus on objects very close to our face, as well as those very far away. And, we have the luxury of changing our focus easily from near to far. However, as we age, this becomes increasingly difficult. And, by the time we reach our forties, we may need glasses or even bifocals to read or to focus on objects close-up. This condition is called presbyopia. In it’s early stages, presbyopia may go unnoticed. It is only when the loss of elasticity impairs vision to a noticeable degree is the change recognized. Presbyopia usually becomes noticeable in the early to mid-forties.

Symptoms

• Blurry vision that starts after age 40
• Difficulty adjusting your focus when switching from near to distance vision
• Eyes that tire easily
• Headaches when doing close-up work

Diagnosing Presbyopia
All comprehensive examinations at The Nielsen Eye Center will include testing for presbyopia. Our doctors can conduct a refractive evaluation to determine whether your eyes focus light rays exactly on the retina at distance and near. A visual acuity test will determine your ability to see sharply and clearly at all distances. We will also check your eye coordination and muscle control, as well as your eyes' ability to change focus. All of these are important factors in how your eyes see.

Treating Presbyopia
Reading glasses and contact lenses are used by many patients for the temporary treatment of presbyopia. However, there are a number of vision correction procedures that can surgically reduce or eliminate the effects of presbyopia. Some presbyopic patients like monovision, which allows them to see distance clearly in one eye and close-up clearly with the other eye. Presbyopia can be present in combination with other types of refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.

Astigmatism

Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is shaped like a football (more curved in one direction than the other) and often occurs in combination with myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness). This causes light to focus in more than one point on the retina, resulting in blurry and distorted vision.

Symptoms of Astigmatism

• Blurry distorted vision at all distance
• Difficulty adjusting your focus when switching from near to distance vision

Treating Astigmatism
If you or your child suffers from astigmatism, glasses and contact lenses may be used for temporary treatment. There are several procedures performed at The Nielsen Eye Center that can surgically reduce or eliminate astigmatism.

Monovision

Monovision is a technique where one eye (usually the dominant eye) is corrected for clear distance vision, and the other eye is corrected for comfortable near vision. Monovision allows a person to see close objects clearly with one eye and distance objects clearly with the other eye. The vision part of the brain tends to filter out the image from the eye that is not in clear focus, so those who have monovision eventually do not pay attention to the eye that is not as clearly focused. Those who have monovision are often able to see well enough both at distance and near to do things at any age without corrective lenses.

Monovision can be achieved with contact lenses or with vision correction procedures by correcting the non-dominant eye for near vision and the dominant eye for distance vision. If you are considering a vision correction procedure, your doctor can put you into monovision contact lenses so you can try it before you permanently correct your eyes with monovision.

Most people's brains automatically get used to monovision within a couple of weeks or months. In our experience, most people over the age of 40 to 45 who try monovision and take the time to fully become accustomed to it like it and find it very useful.