Presbyopia Specialist

What is presbyopia?

Presbyopia refers to the gradual loss of your eyes’ ability to focus on objects that are nearby. These vision changes are a normal part of the aging process. It usually begins in the mid-40s and worsens over time.

What causes presbyopia?

As you get older, the lens of your eye hardens and becomes less flexible. These structural changes make it harder for your eyes to adjust and focus on nearby objects.

Presbyopia is different from astigmatism, nearsightedness, and farsightedness. These vision conditions occur due to changes in the shape of the eye and usually occur early in life. 

Though you can’t stop presbyopia from happening, Bainbridge Eye Care offers treatments to improve your vision. 

What are the symptoms of presbyopia?

You may first notice signs of presbyopia when you have to hold your book out at arm’s length to clearly see the words. Other symptoms of presbyopia include headaches and eyestrain after reading or performing other work that requires nearby vision. 

As noted, these vision changes and symptoms worsen as you get older. 

How is presbyopia treated?

When it comes to improving your vision, you have three treatment options for presbyopia.

Eyewear

When it comes to eyewear, Bainbridge Eye Care recommends bifocal or progressive addition lenses (PALs) for improving vision changes from presbyopia. 

Reading glasses may also be an option. Unlike bifocals and PALs, you wear reading glasses only when you need nearby vision. Bainbridge Eye Care also prescribes reading glasses for contact lens wearers who have vision changes from presbyopia. 

Contact lenses

If you prefer the freedom of contact lenses, Bainbridge Eye Care recommends multifocal contact lenses to correct presbyopia. These contact lenses are made from gas permeable or soft lens material.

Bainbridge Eye Care may also recommend monovision contact lenses for presbyopia. With monovision, you wear two different contact lenses in each eye. One contact lens corrects for distance vision and the other for near vision. 

Your eyewear prescription changes over time as your presbyopia worsens. 

Surgery

There are also surgical options for correcting presbyopia. For example, if you have nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism, you may be a candidate for monofocal LASIK surgery to correct these problems and reduce your need for reading glasses.

If you only need glasses for reading or close work, conductive keratoplasty (CK) may be a surgical option to improve your vision. A refractive lens exchange during cataract surgery can also restore distance and near vision loss. 

Your optometrist at Bainbridge Eye Care can talk to you about your surgical options and refer you to an eye surgeon who performs the procedure. 

To learn more about your treatment options for presbyopia, call Bainbridge Eye Care or book an appointment online today.