Q: I am going to be 50 years old in a few months and have already gone through menopause. I am wearing spectacles since I was 9 years old and contact lenses since I was 17. My number is -8 in the left eye and -15 in the right eye. For the last few years I have a reading no of +2. I wear glasses at home and you can imagine how thick my glasses would be though they are compressed. I went to a specialist for LASIK. He told me that I was not the right candidate for this procedure. Recently a friend of mine who is 45 years old and also has high power underwent LASIK and is very happy with no problems. What do you advise? Should I go in for a second opinion because I hate my thick glasses and am very self conscious about?

A:My advice would be to wear contact lenses and reading glasses over them for reading or close work. The other option is to have cataract surgery through phaco-emulsification even if you do not have cataract as the resulting power correction after implant sugery would be more predictable and long lasting. Your problem, apart from unpredictable - LASIK outcome, is the age in which your lens power correction even after LASIK surgery would vary with age, and you will still need to wear glasses for reading and/or distance.