Contact your Louisville, KY Eye Doctor to Find Out About Treatment Options

Presbyopia is an age-related condition in which objects at a close range, such as newspapers, books or sewing, become blurred. As people around the world are reaching older ages, a larger number of individuals develop presbyopia, which is an unavoidable result of your aging eye.

Theories about the cause of presbyopia are that the eye will begin to harden around the age of 40, making it harder for the eyes to focus in on something, especially an object close by. Those with the condition often manage with the situation by holding the paper far away or standing at a distance from the object they are looking at. Transitions from looking at distant objects to closer ones is often straining for those with presbyopia. The tension might worsen the situation by causing eye strain, fatigues or headaches.

Most commonly bifocal lenses or progressives (PALs) are worn to correct this problem. A bifocal lens has two points of focus, the upper portion is for viewing things at a distance and the other part of the lens is for looking at objects nearby. Progressive addition lenses are similar to bifocals, but they have a more subtle gradient between the separate prescriptions and have no visible line between them. Wearers will more easily shift focus, as they would with normal vision. 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 (when one eye is prescribed a correction for distance vision and the other near vision) to improve the condition. It may take a few tries to determine the optimal method and type of contacts due to the fact that different lenses can have an effect on your comfort or distance vision.

There are also options for other procedures including surgery available that you may want to discuss with your eye doctor. A significant number of people are most successful combining options for presbyopia. Also, since your eyesight will likely worsen with age, you will probably need to keep adjusting your correction. The good news is, there continues to be a significant amount of research being done to discover additional and perhaps more permanent solutions for patients with presbyopia.

If you are starting to notice symptoms of presbyopia, call for a check up with your Louisville, KY optometrist. Improved eyesight can be yours!