We’re all aware of visible signs of ageing – a sprinkling of grey hair, a few lines that show we enjoy life and laughing. There is however one sign of time passing that many of us do not understand. We’re talking about the visual problem Presbyopia, an unavoidable change in your sight that occurs after the age of forty. Let’s give you some facts, explanation and options to help you to deal with it.

Presbyopia usually becomes noticeable around the age of forty, although some people don’t have a problem until their early fifties. You’ll notice:

• Having to hold things further away to see them – handwritten items, sewing, newspapers.
• Finding it hard to read in poor light conditions, such as a restaurant menu at night.
• Headaches or tired eyes after reading for long periods.
• Difficulty seeing small detail or print.

Presbyopia occurs due to ageing of the lens inside your eye. From birth onwards this lens changes shape to let you focus at any distance. As time goes on flexibility decreases and the lens does not allow you to see close too any more. You’ll now need a prescription lens for reading and fine detail. It happens to everyone in time, and while you can’t prevent it, you can make wise choices to make life easier. So what are your options?

If you don’t have a distance prescription then reading glasses are a simple and cheap solution. They give a wide field of view, and you just pop them on when you need them. If you have a complicated prescription an Optician will make them, or you may be able to buy ready made glasses. If you decide on ready readers, get the correct power – ask your Optician what you need.

If you want to do more than one thing at once, such as read and look at TV, then you’ll need glasses that let you see both far and near. Varifocal lenses have three powers within the lens – distance, middle distance and reading. This restores your natural vision, letting you focus on everything with a smooth transition between all areas of the lens. They look just like single vision lenses – no one will guess your age!

Bifocals just have a reading and distance prescription. They can cause problems because they don’t have the middle distance section, so cannot be used at the computer, and you can’t see the dashboard when driving. The reading segment is also visible to people looking at you.

There are contact lens options too. Multifocal contact lenses give the same effect as Varifocal specs. Or you can wear distance contacts with reading specs over the top. The other option is called monovision, a compromise where you wear a lens in one eye that corrects your distance vision, and a reading lens in the other. Sounds odd but your brain does the job for you! It works well for suitable patients.

We hope that we’ve given you some useful information about Presbyopia, to help you make the right eyewear choices when the time comes. Think about what you do on a daily basis, and make a decision based on your lifestyle.