Presbyopia is Hard to Pronounce, Hard to Avoid, Easy to Treat

Presbyopia is the result of the eye slowly losing the ability to focus clearly on objects close at hand. The condition is known to gradually progress as we age.

For the average person, the symptoms will begin developing in their early forties and will continue to progress into their mid-sixties. In fact, by the age of forty-five, over eighty percent of people have the condition and by fifty it is almost universal. It may come as a surprise, but nearly two of Earth’s seven and a half billion inhabitants suffer from the inability to focus while reading.

If you find yourself holding your cell phone at arm’s length or needing more light and/or larger font sizes to read clearly, you may be developing presbyopia. But this is nothing to worry about. Presbyopia is a natural part of aging and companies like Visualites provide fashionable, quality, affordable glasses specifically designed to accommodate presbyopia.

What Exactly is Presbyopia?

So what is it that happens in the eye that causes this condition? Behind the cornea (the dome structure on the front of the eye that refracts most of the light that comes into it) is a crystalline lens. It functions a lot like an actual camera lens and focuses the eye, as well as refracting any light the cornea didn’t. This lens is in constant use, focusing our vision on objects at varying distances. It’s essentially a built-in autofocus feature for the eye.

As we age, this lens hardens and thickens, rendering it less flexible and more difficult to focus. Additionally, the muscles around the eye lose their elasticity and strength, so there are actually multiple components making it difficult to focus. Not only is the lens less flexible, but the ciliary muscles are weakened, making them less able to contract and relax efficiently. The relaxing/contracting of these muscles focuses the lens when it stretches to become thinner or when it thickens and shrinks.

How Do You Know You Have Presbyopia

It may seem obvious, but many people are unsure as to whether or not they are developing the condition. Of course, naturally, the best course of action, when you begin to experience any changes in your vision, is to see an eye doctor, but here are some simple questions to ask yourself to give yourself a better idea. Some of your answers might provide you with enough information that it’s time for reading glasses. If you answer yes to these questions, go ahead and download our reading glass power chart and see what strength of designer readers you need.

• Do you get headaches with you read for long periods of time?
• Do your eye ache when you try to sew, read to other things where your focus is near to your eyes?
• Do you have trouble reading fine print?
• Do you have trouble reading in dim light?
• When reading a book do you move it further or closer to adjust the focus on the text?

Diagnosis of Presbyopia

With a basic eye exam, your doctor can provide you with a definitive diagnosis. The test they will likely use is a refraction assessment where you are asked to look through a variety of lenses to test your vision in relation to distance. He may also dilate your pupils with eye drops to see inside your eyes more clearly and make sure it is simply presbyopia and not cause by a more serious underlying condition.

While vision problems can be frustrating, they are usually treatable by a medical professional and there is the natural upside of getting to don some fashionable reading glasses and add character to your style. If you are developing presbyopia, you’re in the right place. Most people who have chosen from our line of fashionable reading glasses have done so to treat their presbyopia.