How Presbyopia Affects Your Lifestyle

The inevitable eye condition that comes with aging.

It happens to us all at some point. We sit down looking forward to a delicious meal in our favorite restaurant. You know the one - dimly lit with just the right amount of ambiance.

We start to look over the menu (even though we usually get the same thing) and begin to play our invisible trombone as we try mostly unsuccessfully to move the thing in and out in an attempt to find a distance where we can actually read it.

Ordering is now a Herculean effort and we have to rely on the wait staff, our children, or just ask for the special and hope for the best!

Presbyopia - which interestingly enough means “old eye” in Greek - is a part of the natural order of things as we have more birthdays (like wrinkles and gray hair).

Even if you have had perfect vision your entire life, as the big 4-0 comes about, your eyes will have a harder time focusing on smaller details and near vision tasks such as reading.

So what exactly causes this shift?

Presbyopia happens as the clear lens that sits behind your iris (the colored part) naturally starts to lose flexibility.

In our younger years, this flexibility allows the lens to change its shape and easily focus back and forth between images of varying distances. The more years that pass, the more rigid this lens becomes.

Maybe you are trying to read a text on your phone and you need the font just a bit bigger?

If your font is so big you only a few words on the page before having to advance it, you might have presbyopia.

Having trouble seeing the loop in the needle you are trying to thread?

Difficulty seeing or removing a splinter?

Simple activities that are normally taken for granted become surprisingly frustrating thanks to our friend presbyopia.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Everyone will eventually be affected by presbyopia. Although, the timing and rate of progression will of course differ by individual.

The good news is, if you currently wear glasses or contacts already it should be easier for you to take this issue more in stride whereas those with “eagle eye” vision that have spent their entire lives seeing perfectly both up close and at a distance seem to have more difficulty adjusting.

Luckily, there are a number of advancements in technology available for correcting presbyopia at any stage.

Luckily, there are a number of advancements in technology available for correcting presbyopia at any stage.

Eyeglasses customized with a focusing power specific to the needs of the patient wearing them is the easiest corrective measure that often also provides the clearest vision.

Your lenses can include powers for distance, intermediate, and near correction all at once, just distance and near vision, or can even be made strictly to help you with your near vision needs only.

You may have heard the latter referred to as “cheaters” or readers”. In her office, Dr. McGee will typically write 3 prescriptions for her presbyopic patients giving them the option to have the best vision in any environment.

This typically includes a pair for desktop/computer use and even a pair for 100%UVA/UVB protection sunglasses.

Want to have the option of being free from your glasses? There are other ways in which you can make presbyopia more manageable.

Multi-focal or mono-vision contact lenses are a great option for a glasses free approach.

There are even surgical options such as LASIK, the Kamra inlay, or RainDrop Lens.

Be sure to discuss with your eye care provider what might be available for you

Regardless of what approach you and your doctor choose, it can sometimes be frustrating trying to adapt to the treatment of your presbyopia.

But don’t let it discourage you! I have recently been diagnosed with presbyopia and had a difficult time adjusting to glasses that were previously prescribed.

My story has a happy ending though! Through the work of our board certified optician and patience of Dr. McGee, my own eye doctor, I have found just the right option for me.

Ask me to pull that splinter for you, I dare you!!

Have you personally had an experience with presbyopia treatment that changed your life, good or bad? If so, please share below.

Do you live in Oklahoma and find it more difficult to read as you have more birthdays?

Why not schedule an appointment with BeSpoke Vision and talk with our doctors about the solutions that are best suited for your lifestyle? Many of our patients live outside of the Edmond and Oklahoma City area.

  Dealing with presbyopia? Schedule your appointment online.