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Home » What's New » All About Presbyopia

All About Presbyopia

Nov 09, 2015


Contact your San Francisco, CA Eye Doctor to Learn More About Treatment Options


Many adults at some point begin to see signs of presbyopia or a diminished ability to see objects at a close range, as they get older. As people worldwide are reaching older ages, a larger number of people are developing the condition, which is an unavoidable result of your aging eye.


Theories about the cause of presbyopia are that the eye will sometimes toughen by the age of forty, making it harder for the eyes to focus in on an object, especially something close by. Sufferers usually manage with the situation by holding a book far away or standing at a distance from the object they are looking at. Transitions from focusing on far away things to closer ones can often be strenuous for those with presbyopia. This stress can worsen the situation by causing headaches, eye strain or fatigue.


The most common corrections for presbyopia are bifocal lenses or progressive addition lenses (PALs). Bifocal lenses have two points of focus, one is for seeing objects from a distance and the other part of the lens is for seeing objects that are close by. PALs use the same principal as bifocal lenses, but the transitions between the two prescriptions are more gradual and have no visible distinction between them. Users can more easily shift their focus, as they would having standard vision. 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 (when one eye is prescribed a distance vision and the other near vision) to correct the condition. Individuals react in different ways to multifocal lenses, so it may take a while to decide if and in what combination they work for you.


There are also options for other procedures including surgery available that should be talked over with your optometrist. Many patients are most successful combining treatments for presbyopia. Furthermore, because presbyopia will likely deteriorate with age, you will probably be required to keep adjusting your correction. The positive news is, there continues to be quite a bit of experimental treatment on the market currently to identify more and perhaps more permanent treatments for presbyopia.


If you are beginning to notice symptoms of presbyopia, call for a visit with your San Francisco, CA eye doctor. A return to normal eyesight is only a phone call away!