Have you ever noticed that your friends and family members have an increasingly difficult time reading text once they hit middle age? You’re not imagining things: presbyopia (also known as age-related farsightedness) is a condition in which the eye’s lens gradually loses its flexibility, hindering its ability to focus the light to the retina. As their lenses get stiffer, people can no longer see objects up close as well as they used to.
At Laser Eye Center of Miami, our team of savvy eye doctors treat patients with presbyopia every day. Here, our experts explain what patients can do about presbyopia and whether there are any options for preventing it.
Can I Avoid Presbyopia?
Unfortunately, doctors and researchers have not identified a way to stop presbyopia. It is a naturally occurring progression that affects almost everyone, with noticeable symptoms usually manifesting between the ages of 45 and 50. Hence, blurry near vision is a reality you must tolerate as you get older.
Even if you cannot stop presbyopia, you can take some other steps to keep your eyes and vision as strong as possible. By eating nutritious foods, wearing sunglasses that offer 100% UV protection, decreasing your screen time and not smoking, you may keep the health of your eyes stronger overall. While these actions are not going to prevent presbyopia, they will protect other aspects of your vision so that you do not lose more of your sight.
Treatments for Presbyopia
Since presbyopia is unavoidable, the next question is what you can do to overcome it. Luckily, you do not have to resign yourself to being unable to see objects up close. Reading glasses (or “readers”) are an easy way to improve your near vision.
However, you probably won’t find it convenient to carry around a spare pair of glasses with you in case you need to read text. That is why Laser Eye Center of Miami offers a couple other solutions for presbyopia:
- LASIK – Our specialists have found that Monovision LASIK, which corrects one eye for distance and the other eye for reading, is the best LASIK-based approach for minimizing dependence on prescription eyewear with presbyopia.
- Clear Lens Extraction – This surgery swaps out the natural (hardened) lens on the eye with an intraocular lens (IOL) that can include a prescription for improved vision. Multifocal IOLs like Symfony and Tecnis are generally the best for overcoming presbyopia.
Learn More About Your Presbyopia Treatment Options
When presbyopia finally affects your vision — if it hasn’t already — and you do not want to have to rely on reading glasses, make an appointment with Miami’s best team of eye doctors. With a talented ophthalmologist and optometrist on staff, we can help you to achieve the best vision possible during middle and older age. Book an appointment online or call (305) 443-4733.