Visit your North Vancouver, BC Eye Doctor to Learn More About Treatment Options
Presbyopia is a visual impairment related to age in which close range vision becomes significantly diminished. With the increasing worldwide population of older adults, more and more people are developing the condition, which currently cannot be escaped.
Many believe that presbyopia is caused because the human eye will sometimes harden around the age of 40, making it harder for the eyes to focus on an object, especially an object nearby. Those with the condition often deal with the reduced vision by holding a book far away or standing away from the object they want to focus on. Transitions from looking at far away objects to nearer ones is often straining for those with presbyopia. This stress can worsen the situation resulting in headaches, eye strain or fatigue.
Most often bifocals or progressive addition lenses (PALs) are worn to deal with this condition. A bifocal lens has two prescriptions for vision, the upper portion is for distance vision and the lower portion of the lens is for focusing on objects nearby. Progressive addition lenses are similar to bifocal lenses, but the transitions between the two prescriptions are more gradual. Users can more easily change visual focus, as they would with uninhibited eyesight. A third option is reading glasses which are usually worn just when needed as opposed to all day.
Presbyopes can also consider multifocal contact lenses or monovision lens correction (when one eye is prescribed a correction for distance vision and the other near vision) to correct their vision impairment. It may take a while to come up with the best method and type of contact lenses because different lenses can affect your comfort or distance vision.
There are also surgical options that could be considered that you may want to discuss with your eye doctor. A significant number of people are most successful using a combination of options for presbyopia. Also, because presbyopia will continue to get worse with age, it is likely that you will need to continually adjust your prescription. The good news is, there is quite a bit of experimental treatment on the market currently to identify more and perhaps more permanent solutions for patients with presbyopia.
Noticing signs of presbyopia? Schedule a visit with your North Vancouver, BC optometrist. Better eyesight is only a call away!