Presbyopia
Presbyopia is, unfortunately, an age-related refractive condition where the patient experiences a loss of focus for objects close by, as the lens inside the eye becomes less flexible with time, and needs reading glasses.
Presbyopia may occur in a person with good distance vision or with any of the other refractive errors (astigmatism, myopia and hyperopia). It is often incorrectly referred to as long- sightedness because some long- sighted patients also only require reading glasses.
Causes of presbyopia
When shifting focus between objects, the lens of the eye is required to change its shape depending on whether the object is in the distance or close by. This shifting ability is known as the elasticity of the lens.
As people become older, this elasticity often becomes lost; as the lens becomes stiffer, the eye loses its ability to focus on nearby objects.
Symptoms of presbyopia
Presbyopia is a natural part of the ageing process. Onset is gradual and becomes more and more noticeable for people aged 40 onwards. By their 60s, many people will have lost most of the elasticity of the lens needed to focus up close.
The symptoms for presbyopia are related to the struggle to focus on objects close by.
Common symptoms include:
- You struggle to focus on objects close by
- You increasingly have to hold reading materials further away, need more light to read by and are more comfortable reading in larger print.
Treatment for presbyopia at Optegra
Through your optician, the treatment would be either glasses or sometimes contact lenses. We can offer a more permanent solution with lens surgery or laser eye surgery where more suitable for patients experiencing early presbyopia.
Presbyond
This laser blended vision offers freedom from glasses by combining corneal refractive surgery with the advantages of increased depth of field in retaining visual quality. Presbyond uses laser to to sculpt the cornea, focusing the dominant eye for distance vision, and the non dominant eye for near sight.
Clarivu™ lens replacement
Optegra’s medical package for a proven and permanent lens replacement procedure also known as Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE). It’s a technically-advanced development of cataract surgery, one of the world’s most frequently performed surgical procedures. Clarivu not only corrects your eyesight but completely eliminates any chance of developing cataracts in the future.
Laser eye surgery
Excimer laser technology ensures that your advanced, customised laser surgery can be performed with laser precision. This may be suitable for some patients with presbyopia.
Every patient is unique, so we offer a detailed consultation with one of our Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeons to determine suitability, answer all your questions and explain the vision correction treatment for presbyopia.
