The Reason For Poor Vision After 40
Do you challenges seeing objects that are within arms reach? it is possible you have hyperopia. However, it could also be presbyopia. The truth of the matter is the vision is similar but the causes are very different. As such, they have different treatments as well.
Hyperopia, or farsightedness, occurs when the light rays that enter the eye do not focus directly on the retina, but in fact, they focus behind it. This is caused when the length of the eye itself is shorter than it should be. Hyperopia can affect people at any age. Some childred will actually outgrow this condition, as they grow, so do their eyes. However if they don’t, hyperopia can be corrected with either contacts or eyeglasses. Corrective surgery, such as LASIK, is one available treatment option.
Presbyopia has a similar visual effect in that people have trouble seeing clearly up close, but unlike hyperopia, it is age related. It is caused by the crystalline lens, inside the eye, actually hardening with age. The result is the same as hyperopia: poor near vision. In general, corrective lenses are used to fix this. To view object up close, reading glasses are often worn. Another option is to use contact lenses for monovision, when one eye is corrected for distance vision and the other corrected for near vision. Monovision wearers must train their eyes to adapt to a new way of viewing things up close and far away. Similar to progressive eyeglasses, contact lenses can be fit as multifocals.
Hyperopia only effects a smaller portion of the population and there are surgical options to correct it. Presbyopia has effected humans for generations, anyone over forty generally gets it, but it was never treated with surgery until very recently. When the lens inside the eye loses its ability to flex and adjust focus, seeing up close is extremely difficult, that is when it is time for treatment. Though a couple surgical options are available for presbyopia, nothing beats the safe and affordable option of reading glasses. They are completely safe to wear and are very stylish as well. Once a person has accepted that they need reading glasses, they may as well get a pair that will be fashionable too.