Is Presbyopia Normal?

Everything You Need to Know About This Condition and How Vision Correction Surgery Can Help

If you’ve been noticing a decline in your vision, and you’re in your early 40s or older, you may have come across a word that describes your vision troubles: presbyopia.

Presbyopia refers to the natural, gradual loss of your eyes’ abilities to clearly see nearby objects.

Folks at this point in life are already dealing with plenty of age-related changes, so it is probably a bit unsettling to find out that your eyes are part of the deal, too.

However, much like other changes, presbyopia is a normal part of aging. However, there are remedies for the symptoms of this condition.

How Common Is Presbyopia?

Although presbyopia may sound unusual to you, it affects virtually every sighted person as they age. Essentially, if you’re in your 40s or older, and you’re noticing vision changes, you’ve likely joined the presbyopia club. The number of people with this refractive error is in the billions.

What Are the Symptoms Of Presbyopia?

Symptoms of presbyopia may vary slightly from person to person, but one thing that those with this condition have in common is that symptoms tend to worsen over time. These symptoms include:

• Difficulty seeing up close or in dim light.
• Eye strain.
• Headaches.
• Trouble with driving at night.
• Holding your reading material further away to be able to focus better.

Why Does Presbyopia Occur?

The lens in your eye, along with your eye muscles, expand or contract to see objects at close range and at a distance. However, as you age, your eyes’ lenses become less flexible, and they are no longer able to focus on nearby objects.

Presbyopia tends to slowly worsen until around 65 years of age, when the lens is fully hardened and inflexible.

What Solutions Are Available For Presbyopia?

Certain procedures and supports can reduce symptoms, allowing you to see objects clearly up close and far away. These solutions include:

• Vision correction: Tailored for people over the age of 40, a procedure called refractive lens exchange (RLE) replaces each aging eye lens with an artificial lens in a 10-to-15-minute procedure. These artificial lenses allow people who suffer from presbyopia to see both up close and far away without glasses or contacts.

  Depending on your provider, patients can choose between three types of intraocular lenses (IOLs), including those that provide vision at three distances (near, middle, and far) all at once; one range at a time; and even those that shift position in your eye to accommodate where you’re looking.

What Are the Benefits Of Laser Vision Correction Surgery For Presbyopia?

RLE, which is customized to help patients over 40 who suffer from presbyopia, eliminates the need for glasses or contacts. It also helps with:

• Nearsightedness.
• Astigmatism.
• Cataract prevention, because an artificial lens cannot develop cataracts.
• Avoiding cataract surgery. RLE helps you avoid undergoing this surgery later in life.

Patients who choose RLE from a premier team for laser vision correction near them, also cite additional benefits:

• The ability to see without the irritating side effects of contacts and glasses.
• Reduced costs, because RLE is a one-time procedure; contact lenses and frames are recurring expenses that can cost thousands over a lifetime.
• A full lifestyle that isn’t hindered by having to put on readers or not being able to swim with contacts, along with many other roadblocks that contacts and glasses create.
• RLE takes no time at all, and most patients resume their normal activities a day after their surgery.

With laser eye surgery, you get to experience a new solution for your vision, plus many benefits that most people wouldn’t expect.

Find out more about presbyopia, refractive lens exchange, and the benefits of vision correction surgery by exploring these articles:

• 5 Things to Know About Refractive Lens Exchange
• Can Laser Eye Surgery Help Me Get Rid Of My Reading Glasses?