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Aging Eyes
By Clint Moore, Staff Writer
It’s no secret that as a person ages,
their body changes.
The same is true for a person’s
vision.
While someone may have perfect
20/20 vision in their early 20s, by
the time they hit the big 4-0, they
suddenly find themselves needing
bifocal lenses to see things clearly.
“The reality is our eyesight changes once we hit our early 40s, and the
need for bifocals or reading glasses
inevitably starts to set in,” says Dr.
Sarah King with King’s Eye Care in
Berea. “The lens’ ability to focus
on fine detail reduces, resulting in
an inability to see clearly at near
distances — a normal change called
presbyopia.”
According to the American
Optometric Association, presbyopia
is “a vision condition in which the
crystalline lens of your eye loses its
flexibility, which makes it difficult
for you to focus on close objects.”
Presbyopia can occur suddenly, but
the actual loss of flexibility takes
place over a number of years. It is a
natural part of the aging process of
the eye. It is not a disease, and it cannot be prevented.
King says there are
some classic tell-tale
signs that a person
might need bifocal lenses. These signs include:
• Constantly holding
reading items at
arm’s length
• Experiencing headaches
• Eyestrain when
performing upclose tasks, such as
computer work or
reading.
• When driving, your
vision is clear when
looking out into
the distance, but
blurred when glancing down at the
speedometer
• The quality of your
vision changes
throughout the day
Struggling to see
things up close?
Bifocals are often
needed as we age.
Age plays a key role
in bifocals, and while
40 is the “golden rule,”
the need for bifocals
can occur earlier or
later in life.
Once a patient is diagnosed with
presbyopia, corrective lenses, bifocal
glasses, over-the-counter readers or
contact lenses are most commonly
prescribed. “There are also surgical
procedures which may be an alternative option,” King says.
For those patients worried about
how the lines commonly associated
with bifocal lenses look on glasses,
King says that should no longer
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be a concern. “The
most common are
progressive addition
lenses, also known
as no-line bifocals,
which give you vision
for distance, near
and everything in
between, versus lined
bifocals which gives
you clear vision at
distance and near.”
Thanks in large
part to advances in
technology, bifocal contact lenses
now exist, and many
patients are pleased
with the results.
“The technology has
come along way over
the years improving
vision with bifocal
contact lenses, giving
patients good vision
at distance and near,”
King says. Patients
can also do monovision with contacts,
setting the patient’s
dominant eye for
distance and non-dominant eye for
up close.
To determine if you suffer from
presbyopia, King recommends
patients pay a visit to their eye care
professional.
Photo by Earlane Cox