Presbyopia develops gradually. These signs and symptoms may first be noticed after the age of 40:
When an individual is younger, the lens of the eye is soft and flexible, allowing the tiny muscles inside the eye to easily reshape the lens to focus on close and distant objects. Presbyopia occurs when the age-related changes within the proteins in the lens causes gradual thickening and loss of flexibility of the natural lens inside the eye. As well, age-related changes also take place in the muscle fibers surrounding the lens. With less elasticity, it becomes difficult for the eyes to focus on close objects.
In early stages of presbyopia, some simple habit changes can be made to help on reading, like:
As your presbyopia worsens, glasses or contact lenses are needed to help with reading. Some people use over-the-counter reading glasses, or an eye care professional can prescribe spectacles to help you see as clearly as possible.
Eyeglasses are a simple, safe way to correct vision problems caused by presbyopia. Reading glasses helps to correct close-up vision problems by bending light before it enters the eye. They can be bought without a prescription, but the accurate power of reading glasses that are needed should be determined from an eye examination. Most non-prescription reading glasses range in power from +1.00 diopter (D) to +3.00 D.
If prescription corrective lenses are required for other vision problems such as short-sightedness, long-sightedness or astigmatism, then bifocals, trifocals, or progressive lenses might be needed to obtain a clear vision for distance and near.
There are two types of contact lenses that help presbyopia:
Refractive surgery. Some people decide to have surgery to achieve monovision. For presbyopia, this treatment can be used to improve close-up vision in the non-dominant eye. Using a laser, the cornea is reshaped for clear far vision in one eye and close-up vision in the other. This is like wearing monovision contact lenses but refractive surgery is an irreversible procedure. Refractive surgical procedures include: Conductive keratoplasty, Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), Laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK) and Trans-epithelial Photorefractive Keratectomy (TransPRK). Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) is a refractive procedure which is reversible.
Corneal inlays. Tiny devices known as corneal inlays, can help correct presbyopia. It involves inserting a small plastic ring with a central opening, into the cornea of one eye. The opening acts like a pinhole camera and allows in focused light so that you can see close objects. Corneal inlay is a reversible procedure, eye surgeons can remove the rings if the result is not satisfied.