Presbyopia is common in middle-aged people that indicate in the form of blurred vision when working with computers. People who have the near-sight problem will also get presbyopia even when they wear eyeglass or contact lens for distance vision. It is a condition in which the eye lens loses power to achieve focused reading.
Statistics from WHO says that about one billion people are affected with this disease and around 517 million are not taking corrective treatment.
Symptoms :
Some of the signs that you have got presbyopia are difficulty in reading newspapers and books or working in computers. You may not able to read the letters properly even if you are having the book at arm’s length. Some people will have problems while doing embroidery work or other tasks that require clear vision.
People of middle-aged may get mild headache, blurred vision and eye strain when reading or writing for long time. Some individuals report of getting fatigue when working on systems.
Causes :
Actually there is no specific cause for presbyopia. It develops when one attain 40-45 years. Some doctors are of opinion that this condition is the result of thickening of natural lens in the eyeball and the affected person loses flexibility. This disorder is different from nearsightedness or astigmatism that relates to the shape of the eyeball.
The disease would make the lens hard and eventually the lens will lose elasticity. Further the muscle fiber that encases the lens will also change and loses elasticity. The eyes become so hard that it faces problem when focusing small letters or working on computers for long time.
Diagnoses :
Your eye specialist would examine the retina and may do refraction test and visual acuity test for identifying the problem.
Treatment :
Very often, progressive additional lens is given for treating presbyopia. It is called as bifocal lens in which the spectacle lens takes care of the distance vision and the lower lens make good the hardness of the eyeball. Bifocal lenses offer great solution for presbyopia through which one can read and write without any problem.
Reading glass is also highly recommended for people and it is worn by them only while during close work on the computer and for extensive reading. Reading glasses can be obtained over the counter and if needed your doctor may prescribe you for high quality eyeglasses for correcting the problem.
Some people also use multifocal contact lenses that are made with gas permeable soft lens materials. Few people also use monovision glasses that have one glass for correcting distance vision and the other for reading near vision. Again you have to check your power once in a year since there is every chance for getting increased power as your age progresses.
Surgery is done in rare cases for presbyopia. Conductive keratoplasty is a surgical process in which curvature is made on the cornea for correcting the problem of near vision. Alternatively your doctor may also do near-vision CK for treating presbyopia but the process should be repeated regularly since the correction gets reduced as time passes.
Some doctors also suggest using laser therapy for correcting the hardened lens of the eyeball.