Why Does Reading Become Difficult as you Get Older?

If you’re struggling to read this without glasses and you’re over the age of 45, then you’re probably familiar with the frustration of wearing reading glasses. Presbyopia is the medical word used to describe the increasing difficulty with near vision as people age.

The human lens is able to focus at distance and then at near when you are younger because it is flexible and can change its shape. This happens automatically due to the action of thousands of little fibres called zonules that contract and relax to pull on the lens. As you age the substance of the lens becomes stiff and rigid and the lens gradually loses its ability to change shape and hence focus for near. This change, called presbyopia, is the beginning of a series of changes to the substance of the lens that leads to cataract formation later in life.

Many patients hate wearing reading glasses or bifocals, or hate that they keep having to switch between glasses for different tasks. They often don’t like the fact that reading glasses make them look older than they feel! We are more active, youthful, and affluent than generations before, and have a strong desire to remain as active as possible. Unfortunately, we live in an increasingly near sighted world, where smart phones, computers and Kindles make near visual tasks increasingly common.

Treatment options

Technological advances in eye surgery now offer a number of effective options for people who want to be less dependent on reading glasses. There are 2 effective options for people seeking to be less dependent on reading glasses:

• Laser vision correction with mono-vision
• Refractive lens exchange surgery with multifocal intraocular lenses