Treatment Options
Presbyopia can be treated in several ways. For people who do not want to wear corrective lenses to treat their presbyopia, there are surgical options. Of these, the investigational VisAbility™ Micro-Insert System is the only surgical treatment that is designed to:
PROVIDE A FULL RANGE OF FOCUS
Works outside of the visual axis, which means it won’t interfere with your ability to have future vision procedures, should you need them
PRESERVE YOUR DISTANCE
Doesn’t interfere with your ability to see in the distance
MAINTAIN CORNEA AND LENS INTEGRITY
Works to restore your natural ability to focus at near and intermediate distances, in both eyes (a binocular approach)
The best treatment option for you will depend on your eyes and lifestyle and should be discussed with your eye care professional.
Reading Glasses (Half Eyes)
Requires that you:
- Have good distance vision with little or no astigmatism
Limitations:
- Require that you put them on when needed and take them off when not needed
- Can be lost easily
- Make some people feel old
- May interfere with your active lifestyle
Bifocal Glasses
Requires that you:
- Wear them all the time
Limitations:
- Require time to acclimate to two different ranges of focus
- Require that you align your face and reading material to get the best possible vision
- Make some people feel old because of the visible line in the glasses
- May interfere with your active lifestyle
Monovision Contact Lenses
Requires that you:
- Wear them all the time
- Daily care
Limitations:
- Require time to adapt to one eye being focused on near vision and one eye focused on distance vision
- Only about 21% of patients can successfully wear monovision correction1
- Higher risk of infection than glasses
- May cause discomfort and/or exacerbate issues with dry eye
For people who do not want to wear glasses or contact lenses, there are surgical options to treat presbyopia. Some surgical alternatives for the treatment of presbyopia may include: corneal reshaping procedures (like LASIK), corneal inlays, lens removal and replacement with an intraocular lens (like cataract surgery), and the new VisAbility Implant System. Each of these options has different advantages, disadvantages, and risks.
VisAbility is an investigational medical device that takes a new approach to correcting presbyopia. It is the first treatment designed for use in both eyes to restore your natural ability to focus at near and intermediate distances and reduce or eliminate your need for reading glasses.
Unlike all other surgical options for presbyopia, VisAbility works outside of the visual axis to correct your vision. This means VisAbility doesn’t interfere with your ability to have future vision procedures, should you need them, and it is not associated with many of the visual side effects as other presbyopia-correcting surgeries. VisAbility is designed for people not ready for permanent, invasive surgical procedures.
1. Westin E, Wick B, Harrist RB. Factors influencing success of monovision contact lens fitting: survey of contact lens diplomates. Optometry. 2000:71(12):757-763.
