Contact your New Haven, IN Eye Doctor to Learn More About Treatment Options

Presbyopia is a visual impairment that comes with age in which objects at a close range, such as newspapers, books or sewing, become blurred. With the increasing international population of older adults, a larger number of individuals are developing presbyopia, which is an unavoidable result of your aging eye.

The lenses of your eye bend when focusing on objects at differing distances. Some theories are that as you grow older, that flexibility gets diminished because the natural lenses thicken. This condition is called presbyopia and is often noticed by blurred vision when reading or seeing things right in front of you. This often begins to take place any time after the age of 40. Sufferers usually cope with near visual impairment by holding a newspaper far away or standing back from the object they are looking at. Shifting from focusing on distant objects to closer ones is often straining for those with presbyopia. This stress could add further discomfort resulting in eye strain, fatigues or headaches.

The most popular corrections for presbyopia are bifocal lenses or progressives (PALs). A bifocal lens is separated into two prescriptions for vision, the main part of the lens has a prescription for distance vision and a second, lower portion for seeing objects that are close by. Progressive addition lenses use the same principal as bifocal lenses, however the transitions between the two prescriptions are more gradual. Wearers will more easily shift visual focus, as they could if they had uninhibited eyesight. An alternative would be reading glasses which are usually worn just when needed as opposed to all day.

Presbyopes can also opt for multifocal contact lenses or monovision lens correction (in which one eye is prescribed a correction for distance vision and the other near vision) to correct the condition. Individuals adjust in different ways to multifocal lenses, so it may take a while to figure out if and in what combination they work for you.

Furthermore, there are surgical options that could be considered that should be talked over with your optometrist. Many patients are most successful using a combination of treatments for presbyopia. Additionally, since your eyesight will likely get worse as you get older, it is likely that you will need to continually adjust your correction. With the population growing older, there continues to be a significant amount of research being done to identify other and perhaps more permanent solutions for the growing number of people dealing with presbyopia.

If you are starting to see symptoms of presbyopia, book a visit with your New Haven, IN optometrist. A return to normal eyesight can be yours!