Monovision - non dominant eye getting weaker

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I had my non dominant eye (left eye) done 6 weeks ago with an Acrysof.IQ Vivity IOL +16.0D for near sight and my dominant eye (right eye) done 5 weeks ago with anAcrysof.IQ Vivity IOL +15.0D for distance.

I have my first check up on Thursday and although I can see my phone and distance pretty clearly I have noticed that my non dominant eye has become much weaker if i close my dominat eye. For the first week I was mainly using my non dominant eye for driving etc but now I would struggle to watch tv with it. Is this normal .... i.e does your non dominant eye appear weaker as your dominant eye appears stronger.

I know to get the brain working for monovision this is not perhaps the correct thing to do but there appears to be quite a difference between the eye strengths which is causing me a bit of concern.

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4 Replies

  • Edited

    I'll interpret "weak" to mean out of focus and "strong" to mean in focus. They have chosen a lens for your non-dominant eye that should make it strong for reading and computer and weak for TV and driving. That's not a bug, that's a feature. The dominant eye should be strong for TV and driving and weak for reading and computer. You should have both eyes open and let the brain choose compose the image mostly from the eye that is stronger for the task you are engaged in.

  • Edited

    I think you are saying that your near eye can see your phone and intermediate stuff, but it is not so good for far stuff like driving. And your far eye sees well for driving.

    And using both eyes, you see well for everything except the very close stuff.

    Did I misconstrue anything? Do you see at a distance better using both eyes, than with the far eye alone?

    But I think your real question is why did your near eye see well farther than it does now, now that things are stabilized.

    • Edited

      That's the question. I had a retinal detachment in may 2022 in my left eye which was operated on with a vitrectomy. The vision in my left eye always improved when i got new glasses but then after a period of weeks i would notice a reduction. The doctors kept telling me it was just my vision stabilizing but it never did until they said it was cataracts. Therefore i am always over cautious on my left eye if i notice anything.

  • Edited

    What were the targets for each eye in diopters? The normal targets for mini-monovision are -0.25 D in the dominant distance eye, and -1.5 D in the near, non dominant eye. So yes it is normal to have a significant difference between the eyes. That is what makes monovision work for a full range of vision from near to far.

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    What you need to do at your appointment on Thursday is to get both eyes checked and get a written prescription for the refraction of each eye (eye glasses prescription). That will tell you where you ended up in each eye compared to the normal targets.

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    It would not be normal to be able to drive safely with the near eye if it is close to the normal -1.5 D target.

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    When you get your refraction for each eye post again, and I can then give you more accurate comments.

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