Presbyopia is when the lens loses control power to focus on objects and the dependence on glasses has largely increased.
A cataract is a clouding of the lens which affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging.
- 01I am 40 years or older.
- 02I have trouble reading fine print.
- 03It is more comfortable when a book is further away.
- 04I experience eye strain or headaches after reading.
- 05I need more light to read comfortably.
- 06My eyes are blurry and dim.
- 07I am unable to see sharp images at a distance after focusing on something close by.
- 08My eyes tend to quiver when reading something close by after looking at something far away.
- 09I find it easier to focus on close by objects if they are at a distance.
※ If you relate to more than 4 of the above, you can suspect presbyopia and should consult your eye-care specialist for a presby-opic vision test.
▪︎ What is Presbyopia?
It is an aging process when the natural lenses and the surrounding parts of your eyes have grown too rigid to accommodate focus from far to near and back again. You may have trouble seeing objects close by and suffer from eye strain and headaches. If so, you should receive treatment to improve these symptoms. Recently, as the use of smart phones and tablets is increasing, presbyopia symptoms are also growing in people in their 40s and 50s. Also, the onset age seems to be becoming younger. So it is necessary to be more active towards the treatment, prevention, and management of presbyopia.
There are many factors to consider when deciding on presbyopic surgery, such as the patient’s age, eye condition (cornea thickness, shape, etc), overall physical health, cataract, glaucoma, other personal diseases, and the ability to adapt after surgery.
All these should be taken into careful consideration in order to select the right presbyopia treatment. The best option for non-surgical treatment is wearing the correct prescribed reading glasses. However, depending on your life style or the environment you live in, wearing glasses could be difficult. Then you can choose a surgical approach to treating presbyopia.
The main purpose of surgical treatment is to preserve long distance vision and improve short distance vision, as well as to make you less dependent on glasses. So you should consult your eye specialist for a preliminary examination.
Both laser presbyopic correcting surgery and presbyopic implantable contact lens apply ‘Monovision,’ which is where one eye has a good near vision and the other has a good distant vision. The dominant eye is corrected for distant vision and the non-dominant eye is corrected for near vision. Thus, both visions near and far are improved.
Advantages : You can do near tasks without reading glasses.
Disadvantages :Your vision clarity may only be 80~90% and may require reading glasses when focusing on work for a long period of time.
The dominant eye is corrected for distant vision.
The non-dominant eye is corrected for near vision.
Laser Presbyopic Correcting Surgery
Similar to the standard LASIK or LASEK, each cornea is cut by a laser to correct the vision. Using the Mono vision method, each eye is corrected differently; the dominant one for distant vision, and the other for near vision. This way both vision, near and far, are improved.
Corneal Intraocular Lens Implantation
The intraocular lens implantation also applies the Monovision method and corrects both near and distant vision. The non-dominate eye is corrected by inserting a lens for near vision and the dominant eye undergoes standard LASIK surgery to improve distant vision. The main feature is that a near vision correcting lens is inserted to the non-dominant eye.
Q. At what age will presbyopia begin?
A. Presbyopia generally occurs at around mid 40s, when you start to lose the control power of your lens. It usually doesn’t progress further in your late 50s.
Q. What is the difference between hyperopia and presbyopia?
A. Farsightedness, or hyperopia, occurs when an irregularly shaped eye prevents light from properly lining up with the retina. This results in having difficulty in seeing things close up. Presbyopia is an age-related condition in which the lens of the eye becomes less flexible, and seeing close details or adjusting focus between far-away and nearby objects is difficult.
Q. Does presbyopia occur more quickly if I have myopia or hyperopia?
A. No matter if you have myopia or hyperopia, presbyopia is part of the aging process, which eventually affects everyone. However, it is usual that those with myopia tend to get presbyopia later and those with hyperopia tend to get it earlier.
Q. Does presbyopia occur more quickly if I had the LASIK or LASEK surgery?
A. As mentioned above, presbyopia is an age-related condition and does not occur more quickly because of laser vision correction surgery.
Q. Does presbyopia occur more quickly if I had the LASIK or LASEK surgery?
A. As mentioned above, presbyopia is an age-related condition and does not occur more quickly because of laser vision correction surgery.
