04 Apr What is Presbyopia and What Can You Do About It?
What is Presbyopia and What Can You Do About It?
Many people may have heard of the term presbyopia or ‘old eyes’, and if you haven’t heard the term, you might have felt the effects of it. As we age our natural lenses in our eyes tend to not be as flexible and we start to lose our focusing ability. Initially you may notice your eyes feel more fatigued after doing some up close reading. The next sign may be that you notice fine print is harder to read, especially in dim lighting. As the symptoms worsen you notice that you have to hold things further away from your eyes to see clearly up close. This affects everyone at different times, but everyone will start to experience these symptoms at some point in their forties.
Presbyopia is a common condition that affects everyone, which means that there are also treatment options for this condition. One of the easiest ways for someone to see better with presbyopia is to use reading glasses. If the patient doesn’t need any glasses for distance vision, they can have reading glasses prescribed to them. The only issue with that is that the patient will have to take off the glasses to see far away. In order to alleviate having to take glasses and put them on for each task, the patient can get progressive, or no-line bifocal lenses in their glasses. This would give them the best vision for all different distances. This is also the best option for anyone that needs glasses for distance.
Another option to treat presbyopia would be multifocal contact lenses. Just as progressive lenses help the patient see better in all distances, multifocal contacts can do the same. Many may not be familiar with this option because it wasn’t available until recently. The technology for these types of contacts has improved tremendously and most see just as clearly out of their multifocal contact lenses as they do with their progressive glasses.
Lastly, a new option that has become available for patients with presbyopia is Vuity. This is a prescription drop that changes the size of the pupil which allows the eyes to focus better up close. This drop can be prescribed by your optometrist and can be used daily or as needed for when the patient needs better vision up close.
If you are experiencing any symptoms of presbyopia, make sure you see your optometrist and let her know what your visual needs are so she can offer you the best option.