Presbyopia is the gradual loss of eyes ability to focus on close objects. This physiological condition linked to close range vision occurs around the age of 40 and is a sign of the natural aging process.

Normally, the eye has the ability to change the shape of the lens (lens of the eye) and thus achieve accommodation. With age, the lens becomes more rigid and opaque and gradually loses its elasticity. Thus, the accommodation of the lens diminishes and therefore near images cannot be properly focused.

After turning 40, patients begin to notice that in order to read a text they need to place it farther and farther from the eyes. Also, at normal reading distances, they start experiencing blurry vision, and in order to clarify the image they tend to place the object to be focused farther and farther from the eyes. In some cases, patients have headaches or ocular pain after more intense and longer activity at neardistance.

Following the occurrence of presbyopia, the patient’s common everyday activities are affected, among which reading, sewing, watching the wristwatch or the mobile phone screen, and other activities that require close range vision.

Patients realize they have the disorder when they start to get objects far from the eyes in order to see them more clearly. After consulting the ophthalmologist, he can diagnose presbyopia following a simple eye exam.

Presbyopia is a condition that develops with age and cannot be treated, but the eyes ability to focus close objects can be corrected by using corrective lenses. Wearing "reading" glasses does not stop nor slow down disease progression.

Presbyopia correction is made using glasses or contact lenses. Generally, the patient begins using small dioptres, and they increase until the patient is around 60 years old. The disease progresses gradually and the glasses need to be usually changed every 1.5 to 2 years. Therefore, until the age of 60, when the presbyopia is stabilized, the patient may have to change the glasses several times.

The patients who previously suffered from hyperopia or astigmatism need a second pair of glasses for close range vision. They can purchase bifocal or progressive glasses (both for distance and close range vision).

The previously myopic patients, who wear distance glasses (minus dioptres), start to remove the glasses, because they bother them when it comes to close range vision, so they may remove the glasses when reading. The dioptres of the myopic eye allow the patient to see in close range effortlessly.

The Patients who are operated for cataract have the possibility to give up distance and reading glasses by replacing the opaque lens with a multifocal implant.

Keep in mind that presbyopia is not a disease, but a normal and natural process related to the natural aging, i.e. to the ability of the eyes to see clearly and effortlessly objects at a short distance from the eye.