What Is Presbyopia?
Presbyopia is when your eyes gradually lose the ability to see things clearly up close. It is a normal part of aging. In fact, the word “presbyopia” means “old eye” in Greek. You may start to notice presbyopia shortly after age 40. You will probably find that you hold reading materials farther away in order to see them clearly.
What Causes Presbyopia?
When you are young, the lens is soft and flexible, easily changing shape. After age 40, the lens becomes more rigid. It cannot change shape as easily. This makes it harder to read, thread a needle, or do other close-up tasks.
There is no way to stop or reverse the normal aging process that causes presbyopia. However, presbyopia can be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses or surgery. If you do not correct presbyopia, you may be bothered by headaches and eye strain.
How Can I Treat Presbyopia?
- Blended vision from Carl Zeiss Visumax/Mel 80
- Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE) – In the RLE procedure, the eye’s natural lens is replaced with an artificial lens implant (IOL) that is customized to fit the measurements and vision needs of each patient. Patients who have undergone RLE have a 96% satisfaction rate, with more than 80% reporting that they have completely eliminated glasses from their lives1.
- Implantable Contact Lens (ICL) Surgery – ICL surgery can give better outcomes for vision correction in young patients with high prescriptions, dry eyes or corneal abnormalities. The implantable contact lens works from within your eye, instead of sitting on the surface of your eye. It enables light to focus properly on the retina for clear vision without corrective eyewear. Visual recovery is very quick, with near-normal vision within a few hours after surgery.
1Journal of Ophthalmology Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 458296.
*Most Information from AAO academy.
