Presbyopia: What It Is and How to Fix It

There are few things more terrifying than the thought of losing your vision. Not being able to see the vibrant technicolour of the world, not functioning in normal life without assistance, and most importantly, not being able to see the faces of friends and loved ones would scare even the bravest among us.

However, not every eye issue is the end of the world. Presbyopia, a condition that affects many adults, has many treatment options that don’t have to break the bank or drastically change your life.

But first, let’s answer what it is before we at the Clearview Vision Institute move forward and let you know your treatment options.

What is Presbyopia?

Presbyopia is a normal loss of ability to focus your eyes that occurs with age. Most people will start noticing problems like this after 40, typically because they can’t read smaller print as clearly.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about this, even if you’ve never had vision problems. And if you have had issues, like nearsightedness, you’ll likely notice your near vision blurring even when you wear your usual glasses or contact lenses. 

But not to fret, as you are in good company with the billions of others that have this same issue. 

Diagnosis

So let’s catch and identify the problem first. It will be detected by any standard basic eye exam, which should include a refraction assessment and an eye health check.

The assessment determines if you have nearsightedness, astigmatism, farsightedness, presbyopia. Expect to have various instruments used and be told to look through several lenses to test your vision at multiple distances.

You may also get drops put in your eyes that will dilate your pupils, leaving you sensitive to light for a few hours, so make sure you have a safe ride home.

To catch eye problems early, you should be going to the eye doctor every 5 to 10 years if you are under the age of 40, then every two to four years between 40 and 54, before moving to around once a year from age 55 onward.

The Most Obvious Treatment

Now that we’ve identified the issue, you’re likely looking for the solution to fix it. Thankfully, there’s a rather straightforward solution.

And that is eyeglasses, the perennial tool of the seasoned ophthalmologist. They are simple to wear and safe. Most importantly, they’ll correct vision problems caused by presbyopia.

Your choices here include prescription reading glasses, trifocals, progressive multifocal, and office progressives which work for computer distance and close work.

Regardless, you should be able to find something that suits your day-to-day work and lifestyle, clearing up presbyopia in all the tangible working senses, even if the problem isn’t fully removed.

Contact Lenses

Contact lenses are another solution if you don’t want to wear eyeglasses. This can correct your presbyopia problems but be warned. They don’t work for everyone.

That is to say. If you have conditions with your eyelids like tear duct or dry-eye surface issues, you might be able to use contacts.

But if that’s not a problem, then there are some choices to consider.

One is the bifocal contact lens which provides distance and close-up vision fixing on each contact. The bottom part is weight and is intended to be the reading portion forever positioned at the lower portion of your eye. Other lenses of this type might have a correction on the edges and another in the contacts center.

Monovision contact lenses, meanwhile, will give you close-up vision in one way and more distanced vision in the other, allowing you to switch things up as needed.

Lastly, there are modified monovision which uses a bifocal in one eye and a distance-set lens. This way, you can use both eyes for distance and the other vision for looking at things close up.

Refractive Surgery

The biggest and most permanent fix is total refractive surgery. It changes the shape of your cornea completely. So if you have presbyopia, this might be used to improve close-up sight in your weaker eye. It’s like constantly wearing monovision contact lenses. However, even after surgery, you may still need eyeglasses for some close-up work.

This is a permanent procedure that you should carefully think through. Try wearing monovision contact lenses for a while to get used to how it feels.

Potential surgical procedures here include conductive keratoplasty, and LASIK, with which your eye surgeon will make a flap in your cornea before using a laser on the inside to affect its typical dome shape. 

Other methods include SMILE and PRK. Speak to an expert about how these might work.

Closing Thoughts

There’s a lot you can do to treat presbyopia. First, you need to know exactly what it is and realize that you need constant checkups to catch issues before they spiral into bigger ones. Then all there’s left to do is figure out how you want to be treated.

At this point, you now know more about presbyopia than you probably planned on learning today. But that’s a good thing, as knowledge is the best weapon you have in defending yourself against the rigours of the world. However, now that you know what the issue is, you may be desperate to try and fix it. 

Fortunately, there are easy solutions to this problem, provided you can find the right professional help for eye surgery in Toronto. 

To learn more about presbyopia and its treatment, call Clearview Vision Institute at 647-493-6371 or contact us here.