What is monovision?
Monovision means deliberately correcting one eye for distance and the other for near, so the brain combines them. It reduces dependence on reading glasses at the cost of some depth perception and sharpness.
- Subject
- Vision problems
- Topic
- Presbyopia & reading vision
- Kind of question
- What is…
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Many people adapt to it well and some do not, and the way to find out before committing is usually a trial with contact lenses. That trial is worth asking about, because it is cheap and it answers the question directly.
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision problems & prescriptions in Presbyopia & reading vision . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
Subjects this question touches
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- Condition Presbyopia
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
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- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026