No More Reading Glasses

As we age, our ability to change focus from far to near becomes worse. The average person begins to notice reading problems and starts to use reading glasses around age 45. This means that half of all people begin to use reading glasses before they reach 45 years of age. Pre-made reading glasses, which can be bought in the drug store, are inexpensive and work for almost everyone. But reading glasses are inconvenient; they must be put on to see well up-close and then taken off to see well far away. Alternatively, reading glasses can be worn down on your nose. When this is done, you look down through the reading glasses to see up-close and look above the reading glasses to see far away.

Why do people dislike Reading Glasses?

Many people don’t like the look of reading glasses and avoid them for cosmetic reasons. They make you look older.
Reading glasses are inconvenient: you need to constantly put them on and take them off.
You need to carry reading glasses with you all the time.
It can be difficult to walk around and climb up and downstairs with reading glasses on.

If you have an active lifestyle or are concerned with maintaining a youthful appearance, then you should consider other more contemporary treatment options for this middle-age vision problem.

Blended Vision or Monovision

Blended vision (also called monovision) lessens the need for reading glasses. Blended vision can be achieved with contact lenses or, for a more long-term solution, with Laser Vision Correction. In blended vision, one eye is adjusted for near while the other remains adjusted for distance. This sounds complicated to many people, but it is really very simple to determine if this would be a good solution for you. A simple five-minute test in the office will show you what your vision will be like with blended vision and determine if blended vision is right for you. Ask Dr. Caster if you are interested in testing for blended vision.

Presbyopia is age-related farsightedness

Is it increasingly difficult to read newspapers and books because the words look fuzzy and you must hold your magazines at arm’s length to read the feature story? Then chances are your trouble is caused by a condition commonly known as presbyopia. Presbyopia is the farsightedness that sets in during early middle age, around age 45.

Presbyopia is Natural

Presbyopia happens to everyone. The condition simply indicates your eyes have lost their ability to adjust focus from far to near. Presbyopes have trouble seeing well close-up.

What Causes Presbyopia

When you’re younger, the lens of your eye focuses quickly on objects at different distances. The lens inside the eye changes shape easily as the muscles around it tighten and relax, adjusting your focus. This inner lens is hugely flexible when you are younger. But as we age, the lens loses its flexibility, and we lose our ability to adjust our focus. Sometimes in our 40s, it gets harder to see close up. This is called presbyopia. In spite of the big name, it isn’t a disease. It’s a natural part of the aging process. And it’s easy to correct.
Presbyopia is a form of farsightedness. Farsightedness means that you see better far than near. Presbyopia is the middle-aged farsightedness that happens when the natural lens in the eye gets less flexible. Vision difficulties due to presbyopia can be managed with Laser Vision Correction.

Presbyopia Treatments

The methods for dealing with presbyopia include reading glasses, contact lenses, lens implants (if cataracts are involved), and Laser Vision Correction. Eye drops are recently available that partially help with this problem — please see our blog, Eye drops for Better Reading.

What Are the Common Symptoms of Presbyopia?

You need to hold reading material at arm’s length.
Blurred vision at an average reading distance.
Headaches or fatigue from doing close work.

How do we diagnose Presbyopia?

Dr. Caster can diagnose presbyopia with thorough testing and eye examination. We will test to see if Laser Vision Correction is the right treatment for you.
Dr. Caster is a sub-specialist with a practice focused exclusively on LASIK Laser Vision Correction and all of its variations.
Dr. Caster was one of the twenty (20) doctors who performed the initial LASIK treatments evaluated by the FDA for its approval of LASIK in the 1990s. Experience counts!
You will be in the hands of a pioneer in the field of LASIK surgery and an expert in issues related to presbyopia.