Often, middle-aged people start to have some trouble reading. Why does this happen? With age, your eye's lens is likely to become more rigid, decreasing your ability to focus on handheld objects. We call this presbyopia.
Often, to avoid having to strain their eyes, people with undiagnosed presbyopia may hold printed text at arm's length to be able to focus properly. Additionally, engaging in other tasks at close range, like sewing or handwriting, could also cause eyestrain and discomfort. When it comes to treating presbyopia, you have several alternatives, which take your eyewear preferences into account.
A common aid is reading glasses, though these are only efficient for those who wear contacts or for people who don't already wear glasses for problems with distance vision. You can purchase these basically anywhere, but it is not recommended to get them until you've seen the results of a proper visual exam. The reason for this is that reading glasses may help for quick periods of time but they can eventually cause eyestrain when worn for long stretches of time. A better alternative to pharmacy reading glasses are custom made ones. These can do a number of things, like correct astigmatism, compensate for prescriptions that vary between the two eyes, and, the optic centers of every lens can be made to suit the person who wears them. The reading distance is another detail that can be designed to meet your individual needs.
If you already wear glasses for distance vision, think about bifocal or multi-focal corrective lenses, or PALs (progressive addition lenses), which are very popular. These are eyeglasses with separate points of focus; the bottom section has the prescription for seeing things at close range. If you already wear contacts, it's worthwhile to speak to your eye care professional to find out about multifocal contact lenses. Additionally, you should consider a treatment approach known as monovision. Monovision is when one eye wears a lens for distance vision and one eye wears a lens for close vision.
Because your eyesight continues to change as time goes on, it's fair to expect your prescription to increase periodically. Presbyopia is seen in people even after refractive surgery, so it is it's worthwhile to take the time to find out about all the options before making decisions about your vision care.
It's best to speak to your eye doctor for an unbiased opinion. Presbyopia is a reality of aging, but the choices you make regarding it is in your hands.