With my glasses on, I can’t see things up close & with my glasses off, I can’t see things from afar. I’m almost 50 years old, is LASIK eye surgery good for me or will I have to wear reading glasses still?

A dilemma, isn't it? The one good thing about being nearsighted is that you can still see up close (at least without your glasses on) when you become Presbyopic in middle age. The reason for this is that with a myopic (nearsighted) eye being larger than normal, your default focal point is somewhere at near rather than off at the horizon as in a normal eye. This is of no benefit when you are young, so it is possible to wear contact lenses and still use your accommodation to see up close. But as your natural lens hardens with age (presbyopia), you can no longer accommodate as well so you will need reading glasses or bifocals.

LASIK does not cure presbyopia. One possible solution is monovision with LASIK where the non-dominant eye is left a little nearsighted to allow for continued near vision while the other, fully corrected eye, is good for distance.

_Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic