Presbyopia

Presbyopia is a natural part of aging that causes a gradual loss of the ability to focus on close objects.


What Is Presbyopia?


Presbyopia is a refractive error that occurs when the lens of the eye hardens and loses flexibility, making it difficult to focus light on the retina. 


Presbyopia is commonly mistaken for farsightedness.



What Are The Symptoms?


Symptoms of presbyopia include:

  • Difficulty seeing things close up: You might need to hold reading material farther away to see it clearly. 

  • Blurred vision: You might experience blurred or distorted vision at normal reading distance. 

  • Eye strain: Your eyes might feel tired or sore. 

  • Headaches: You might experience headaches after reading or doing close-up work. 

  • Squinting: You might squint to see clearly. 

  • Need for brighter light: You might need more light to read or see clearly. 


What Causes It?


Presbyopia is caused by the natural aging of the eye, which makes the lens of the eye less flexible and harder: 


Lens flexibility

The lens of the eye is flexible and can change shape to focus on objects at different distances. As people age, the lens becomes less flexible and can’t change shape as well to focus on nearby objects. 


Accommodation

The ability of the eye to change the shape of the lens to focus on objects at different distances is called accommodation. As people age, this ability decreases. 


Ciliary muscle

The ciliary muscle is a muscle that surrounds the lens and helps it change shape. As people age, the ciliary muscle decreases in length and strength. 


How Is It Treated?


Treatments include: 

Eyeglasses

Reading glasses are a simple and effective solution for people who don’t have other vision problems. If you already wear glasses, you can use varifocal or multifocal lenses to avoid switching between different pairs. 


Contact lenses

Multifocal contact lenses allow you to see both nearby and distant objects clearly. Monovision contact lenses involve wearing a contact lens set for distance vision in one eye and a different contact lens set for close work in your other eye. 


Eye drops

Pilocarpine 1.25% is the only FDA-approved eyedrop for presbyopia. You put one drop in each eye once a day. 


Surgery

Corneal inlay surgery is a minimally invasive procedure that involves placing an insert into the cornea. Lens-based surgery uses a special intraocular lens implant. 


Presbyopia usually becomes noticeable in your mid-forties. Risk factors include being older than 40, farsightedness, and taking certain medications.