Posted by: Carolinas Center for Sight in Near Vision Correction
A long-term solution for the 114 million presbyopic Americans As adults, we make a lot of compromises, choosing sedans instead of sports cars, salads instead of fries, but there is no reason we need to compromise when choosing a solution for presbyopia, or near vision loss. Until the KAMRA corneal inlay, monovision was the solution available for those frustrating reading glasses and presbyopic patients soon learned that to achieve good reading vision, they had to compromise and give up some of their distance vision. With the KAMRA inlay you can restore your reading vision while maintaining great distance vision by extending your overall depth of focus. Presbyopia is a naturally occurring condition that happens to everyone around age 45. As the lens of the eye becomes less flexible with age, focusing up close becomes a challenge and near vision becomes blurry making reading glasses necessary for working on the computer, reading a book or even seeing a text message. The KAMRA inlay design is based on the same concept as smart phone cameras – small aperture optics. The inlay’s mini-ring design has a tiny opening in the center creating a pinhole effect. Working much like a smart phone camera lens, the pinhole allows focused light to enter the eye for clearer reading vision and a more natural range of vision from near to far. Traditional monovision options correct one eye for distance vision and the other eye for reading vision. While this can be a good solution for some, there are significant drawbacks including the loss of good intermediate vision and difficulty with depth perception. In addition, monovision does not last as presbyopia continues to progress. The KAMRA inlay provides a long-term solution giving you back your near vision and maintaining your distance vision in both eyes rather than taking anything away. For years, Sondra Black, O.D., Clinical Director of Crystal Clear Vision in Toronto, Canada, struggled with her monovision correction. “Even though I could function fine during the day, for my distance vision, I had to have night driving glasses in the car,” she said. “And then as I got older and my presbyopia started progressing, all of a sudden as well as needing night driving glasses, I also needed reading glasses. Then there was that mid-distance that just didn’t work in either eye. Things got frustrating there for a few years.” Dr. Black decided to try the KAMRA inlay to see if it could help her eliminate her need for reading glasses. “Almost immediately with the KAMRA inlay, I got to throw away my night driving glasses. I don’t need them anymore, and I no longer need my reading glasses at all. Also, I don’t get the headaches in that intermediate distance anymore, where focusing was difficult. Everything is clear. My vision is much more natural, and I’m 100% glasses free, which is amazing,” Dr. Black said. Like Dr. Black, becoming independent from reading glasses was also the goal for Terry Baker. The Omaha, Nebraska, HVAC technician was struggling to see up close. He needed reading glasses to see the small letters on a circuit board and thermostat wires but would then struggle to keep his glasses clean and from slipping off his face when he was working on equipment repairs and installations in extremely dusty and sweaty conditions. When Terry could no longer stand the hassle of his bifocals, he tried monovision contact lenses. Unfortunately, he also couldn’t tolerate the contacts, especially in his dusty and gritty working conditions. He found his solution at Kugler Vision in 2015: the KAMRA inlay. “With the KAMRA inlay, I see pretty much like I did when I was 20, and I don’t have the hassles of cleaning my filthy glasses all the time or breaking my glasses on a job site.” “We’re proud to offer the KAMRA inlay as a solution to patients who need freedom from reading glasses. For Terry, this has been especially important when he’s on the job,” said Dr. Lance Kugler of Kugler Vision. “With the KAMRA inlay, he isn’t trading his distance or intermediate vision for good reading vision – he has a full range of vision.”
