What is Presbyopia?

Have you noticed that you’re having to hold reading materials further & further away in order to read them clearly? Are you wondering why things are so blurry as you hold them closer to your eyes? Perhaps you’ve just taken a trip to your eye doctor and heard the term ‘presbyopia’. Does presbyopia mean that you need reading glasses?

Presbyopia is the term used to describe an age-related disorder in which the eye gradually loses its ability to see things clearly up close. It’s a normal part of aging, and affects most people over the age of 40. But despite its fancy name (which comes from a Greek word for “old eye”), presbyopia isn’t a disease; it’s a natural condition that’s pretty easy to treat. (And yes, one of the easy fixes for presbyopia is readers.)

Since it generally affects men and women equally and will continue throughout your life, it’s important to understand what causes presbyopia, how you can tell if you have presbyopia, and how to treat presbyopia.

What Causes Presbyopia?

Simply put: aging causes presbyopia. When you’re young, light that travels into your eye is bent (or refracted) by the lens of your eye into a straight line that goes directly to your retina, which is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of your eye. The lenses of your eyes are powered by ciliary muscles that are very good at refracting light because of their youthful elasticity and flexibility.

As you age, the lens in your eye becomes less flexible and elastic. It can no longer adjust its length or shape with the help of the ciliary muscles that surround it. This makes it harder to read, thread a needle, or do other close-up tasks without reading glasses, surgery, or other treatment.

Do I Have Presbyopia?

If you find yourself holding reading materials at arm's length, experiencing blurred vision at normal reading distances and suffering from eye fatigue accompanied by headaches when doing close work, then you might have presbyopia. Other signs & symptoms of presbyopia include having difficulty reading small print and requiring brighter lighting when reading.

A simple trip to your doctor for an eye examination will help determine what you should do if you’re experiencing any of these symptoms. A complete eye exam will include a refractive evaluation to determine whether your eyes focus light rays exactly on the retina at both near and distant viewing.

Additionally, a visual acuity test can help determine your ability to see sharply and clearly at both near and distant viewing. Your eye doctor will also check your eye coordination and muscle control, as well as their ability to change focus at both near and far distances.

For a more convenient approach, you can find out what strength reading glasses you need by visiting our free online strength test.

How to Treat Presbyopia

While there is no cure for presbyopia, there are plenty of ways to treat it. Depending on the health of your eyes and what you do with them, you may be able to choose from corrective lenses, contact lenses, or surgery to improve your vision.

The quickest and least invasive way of correcting your presbyopia is with reading glasses. And while many sources will point you to your local drugstore for a quick pair of reading glasses, you’ll soon notice that conventional reading glasses can be brittle, bulky and bothersome.

At ThinOptics, we’ve prioritized your need for easy access to clear vision, all the time. That means that our reading glasses are complete vision solutions that provide superior vision correction in an ultra durable case so slim that it can fit on the back of your smartphone.

These Vision Solutions are great for quick reads like menus & text messages.

The Result

Imagine clear vision always within reach, whether you’re at a dimly lit restaurant trying to decipher the menu or under the sink searching YouTube for a plumbing fix on your phone. Our flexible & durable readers and reading glasses are Always With You because we designed them that way.