What is Presbyopia?

What is this condition?

Presbyopia is the loss of the eye's ability to change focus to see near objects.It is an age-related process and occurs in everyone, usually after the age of 40, but in some cases this condition could become obvious before reaching 40.

How do I know I have it?

One would notice that near range work such as sewing, especially on dark fabrics, reading and writing in normal room light, may lead to blurriness, eyestrain or general fatigue.

Is this normal?

Yes this is a normal occurrence, as people grow older their eyes slowly lose their ability to focus at near. The eyes of children possess enough ability to focus at near than compared to an elderly person. This lose of focusing ability with age causes blurring of near tasks unless their focusing system is modified by spectacles and contact lenses.

Why does this happen?

The ability of the eye to increase and relax its focus is due to the crystalline lens in the eye and the internal muscles that control its shape. It is more commonly thought to be due to decreased flexibility of the lens, decreased space inside the eye, weakness of the internal muscles, or an inefficiency in their actions. Presbyopia is a refractive error which means that the eye does not bend light correctly from near objects onto the retina, resulting in a blurred image. It can be combined with nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.