Near Vision Problems

 

Why is My Near Vision Changing?

In our 40s and 50s, we begin to experience the naturally frustrating effects of blurry near vision. Reading the newspaper, seeing the computer screen or sending a text message can become a struggle. We end up depending more and more on reading glasses or contact lenses to see up close.

This natural loss of reading vision is called presbyopia (prez-bee-OH-pee-ah), and it eventually affects all of us, even if we never needed vision correction before.

What Causes Presbyopia?

The eye’s natural lens is normally elastic and flexible. It works like a camera lens to automatically adjust and focus our vision. This lets us automatically switch our gaze from something near to something far away.

Over time, the lens in your eye begins to stiffen. It can’t bend into the right shapes to bring close objects into clear focus. To compensate, you end up moving objects further away to help your eye to focus.

Presbyopia continues to progress over time. For example, someone who is 45 may only notice it when trying to read tiny print in low light. However, someone who is 50 may need to use reading glasses many times throughout the day.

BEFORE: When the natural focusing ability of the eye diminishes, near vision becomes blurry.

Current Options For Correcting Near Vision Problems

Blended Vision/Monovision

Many people enjoy range of vision by correcting the dominant eye to distance and the non-dominant eye for near/intermediate.  Most people adjust well to the difference between the eyes and do well for both near and far away, and there is minimal impact on stereo vision and depth perception.  This can be done with laser vision correction as well as intraocular implants used for cataract surgery.  Often times a contact lens trial is done to ensure patient comfort prior to the procedure.

Multifocal Lens Implants

With multifocal implants both eyes are aimed at distance so there is not any significant prescription difference between the eyes.  It is the optical design of the implant that allows both eyes to see distance and up-close.  Because of their advanced optical design, multifocals may induce night glare for some people, and may not be the best choice for certain occupations.  Majority of patients, however, do well with them after a period of adjustment.