Presbyopia and Aging
Contact your Anaheim Hills, CA Eye Doctor to Find Out About Treatment Options
Presbyopia is a visual impairment related to age in which the ability to view objects at a close distance becomes significantly diminished. As people worldwide are living longer, a significant number of people develop presbyopia, which currently cannot be escaped.
Many believe that presbyopia is caused because the eye will often toughen around age 40, making it more difficult for the eyes to focus on an object, especially an object nearby. Those with the condition usually cope with the reduced vision by holding the paper away from their eyes or standing at a distance from the object they want to focus on. Shifting from focusing on far off things to closer ones can often be strenuous for those with presbyopia. The strain can add further discomfort resulting in headaches, eye strain or fatigue.
Most commonly bifocals or progressive addition lenses (PALs) are used to correct presbyopia. A bifocal lens is divided into two points of focus, one is for seeing things at a distance and the other part of the lens is for seeing things that are close by. Progressive addition lenses are similar to bifocals, however they have a more gradual transition between the two prescriptions and have no clear distinction between them. Users will more easily change their focus, as they would with normal eyesight. An alternative would be reading glasses which are usually worn just when needed as opposed to all day.
Presbyopes can also use 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 their vision impairment. It may take a couple of attempts to determine the optimal use of contacts because different prescriptions can affect your comfort or distance vision.
There are also options for other procedures including surgery available that should be discussed with your eye doctor. A lot of patients are most successful combining treatments for presbyopia. Additionally, since your eyesight will likely worsen with age, you will probably be required to continually adjust your correction. The good news is, there is quite a bit of research being done to discover more effective treatments for presbyopia.
If you are starting to notice symptoms of presbyopia, schedule an appointment with your Anaheim Hills, CA optometrist. Better vision is only a call away!
