Tackling Presbyopia

Contact your Princeton, NJ Optometrist to Learn More About Treatment Options

Many adults eventually begin to notice signs of presbyopia or a diminished ability to focus on objects that are close, as they get older. With the growing worldwide population of older adults, a significant number of people develop presbyopia, which is an unavoidable result of your aging eye.

Your eye's lenses curve when focusing on objects at varying distances. Some theorize that with age, that elasticity diminishes because the lenses lose their give. This phenomenon is known as presbyopia and is often first noticed by an increased difficulty reading or seeing objects at close range. This often can start to take place any time after someone turns 40. Sufferers often deal with the reduced vision by holding the paper far away or standing back from the object they want to focus on. Shifting from focusing on far off objects to nearer ones can often be tiring for people with presbyopia. The tension might worsen the situation by causing headaches, eye strain or fatigue.

The most popular corrections for presbyopia are bifocal lenses or progressive addition lenses (PALs). Bifocal lenses have two points of focus, the main part of the lens has a prescription for seeing objects at a distance and a second, lower portion for seeing objects that are close by. PALs work similarly to bifocals, however they offer a more subtle transition between the two prescriptions and have no clear distinction between them. Users can more easily shift focus, as they might with uninhibited eyesight. An alternative would be reading glasses which, unlike bifocals or PALs which are worn all day, are used only as needed.

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 the vision impairment. People respond differently to multifocal lenses, so it may take a few tries to decide if and in what combination they work for you.

There are also surgical options available that you may want to discuss with your optometrist. A lot of patients find the most success by using a combination of options for presbyopia. Also, because your eyesight will continue to worsen as you age, you will probably need to continually adjust your correction. With the population growing older, there is quite a bit of research being done to discover other and perhaps more permanent treatments for presbyopia.

If you are beginning to notice symptoms of presbyopia, schedule an appointment with your Princeton, NJ eye doctor. Improved vision is only a phone call away!