Presbyopia is a naturally occurring event. It happens to everyone. Presbyopia usually occurs around age 40, sometimes earlier and sometimes later.
Common symptoms of presbyopia are difficulty reading or seeing small print. To compensate for early presbyopia, we can old objects further away from us to improve the clarity, but this is only temporary. Headaches, sometimes dizziness and blurred distance can be attributed to presbyopia.
Nearsighted people may find it easier to remove their glasses to read a text, phone or other device (see pic above).
The Cause of Presbyopia
Your natural lens inside the eye is constantly changing shape. When we are young, the lens is elastic and flexible. The muscles we use to reshape the lens are the strongest when we are born and get weaker with age.
With time, the lens becomes inelastic, and the ciliary muscles, the muscles used to focus up close, become weaker. Initially, we hold objects further away to ease the strain on the muscles.
Presbyopia progresses with time. By the time you hit your 50s, you may need glasses for all sorts of “near” activities; reading, computer, music reading.
Treatments for Presbyopia
- Reading glasses are the most common solution. You can have glasses made for just reading, or have a bifocal/trifocal added for close/intermediate distances. There are blurry zones – areas which are in between these focused areas. Progressive lenses offer a gradient of different powers reducing blurry zones, but it requires precise head tilting so you can look through the proper are of the lens…and they are still glasses.
- Intraocular lenses (IOLs), following cataract surgery, can now reduce your need for reading glasses following cataract surgery. Multifocal IOLs can give better magnification compared to accommodating IOLs. Tecnis and ReSTOR lenses are popular multifocal IOLs.
Cornea Inlays for the Treatment of Presbyopia
Corneal inlays include the KAMRA Inlay and the Raindrop Inlay.
The KAMRA Inlay is FDA approved to improve near vision in certain patients with presbyopia. The KAMRA Inlay is implanted within the layers of the cornea of one eye in patients who have not had cataract surgery. The Eye Associates of Washington DC are one of the few medical centers in the Washington DC are to perform the KAMRA Inlay.
The Raindrop Near Vision Inlay is the second FDA approved corneal inlay for certain patients with presbyopia who have not had cataract surgery. The device is implanted within the cornea and alters the corneal surface to improve near vision in one eye.
At this time, we are the only medical practice offering both the KAMRA Inlay and the Raindrop Near Vision Inlay for the treatment of presbyopia.
To schedule an appointment, please call us (202.686.2700) or email us!
We look forward to meeting you.
The Doctors of Eye Associates of Washington, D.C.
Serving Washington, D.C. and Tysons Corner
Board Certified Eye Physicians and Surgeons