Presbyopia
Presbyopia usually begins around the age of 40, when people experience blurred near vision when reading, doing near work or using the computer. You can't escape presbyopia, even if you've never had a vision problem before. Even people who are nearsighted will notice that their near vision blurs when they wear their usual eyeglasses or contact lenses to correct distance vision.
Presbyopia Symptoms and Signs
When people develop presbyopia, they find they need to hold books, magazines, newspapers, menus and other reading materials at arm's length in order to focus properly. When they perform near work, such as embroidery or handwriting, they may develop headaches, eye strain or feel fatigued.
What Causes Presbyopia?
Presbyopia is the result of an age-related process. This differs from astigmatism, nearsightedness and farsightedness, which are related to the shape of the eye and are caused by genetic and environmental factors. Presbyopia generally is believed to stem from a gradual thickening and loss of flexibility of the natural lens inside your eye.
These age-related changes occur within the proteins in the lens, making the lens harder and less elastic over time. Age-related changes also take place in the muscle fibers surrounding the lens. With less elasticity, the eye has a harder time focusing up close.
Presbyopia Treatment: Eyewear
Eyeglasses with bifocal or progressive addition lenses are the most common correction for presbyopia. Bifocal means two points of focus: the main part of the spectacle lens contains a prescription for distance vision, while the lower portion of the lens holds the stronger near prescription for close work. Progressive addition lenses are similar to bifocal lenses, but they offer a more gradual visual transition and provide multiple prescriptions for varying distances with no visible line on the lens. Reading glasses are another choice. Unlike bifocals and progressives, which most people wear all day, reading glasses typically taken on and off, and are worn just for near work.
For more information on the different lens choices, click HERE.
If you wear contact lenses, your eye doctor can prescribe reading glasses that you wear while your contacts are in. You may purchase readers over-the-counter at a retail store, or you can get higher-quality versions prescribed by your eye doctor.
Presbyopes also can opt for multifocal contact lenses, available in gas permeable or soft lens materials. Another type of contact lens correction for presbyopia is monovision, in which one eye wears a distance prescription, and the other wears a prescription for near vision. The brain learns to favor one eye or the other for different tasks. This modality is the most popular way to wear contacts over the age of 40.
Because the human lens continues to change as you grow older, your presbyopic prescription will need to be increased over time as well. You can expect your Dr. Sheiner to prescribe a stronger correction for near work as you need it.
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