Presbyopiamakes it difficult to see well up close as you age.
It is often necessary to hold reading materials at arm’s length.
Nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism are other forms of refractive errors.
Illustration by Joules Garcia for Verywell Health
Why Age-Farsightedness Happens
With age comes changes to thelens of your eye.
The lens is at the front of the eye, tucked behind that colored iris.
It focuses light rays on theretinaat the back of the eye.
This affects tasks like reading or performing tasks up close.
This is because your eyes are already working hard to focus at a near distance.
Your uncorrected near vision will not be changed by presbyopia.
Hyperopia causes light rays to land in front of the retina, making objects up close look blurry.
It can occur because the eye is shorter than usual.
This is the start of presbyopia.
The National Eye Institute recommends using look-up tools tolocate an optometristorfind an ophthalmologist.
Or, you may want to ask your family or friends to recommend an eye doctor they like.
Eyeglasses, Contact Lenses, and Surgical Treatment
Presbyopia has various treatments.
Unfortunately, there is no way to reverse presbyopia.
Once the lens stiffens, it cannot be made more supple again.
However, there are various ways to correct visual difficulties, including with corrective lenses and surgery.
A pair ofreading glassesis the easiest approach if you have no other vision issues.
These can provide the correction you gotta function up close.
They work by focusing the light on your retina.
You may have trouble judging distance or speed during this period, so take extra care.
It makes it more difficult to view things up close.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is presbyopia?
Harvard Health.Presbyopia
National Eye Institute.Nearsightedness (myopia).
National Eye Institute.Farsightedness (hyperopia).
National Eye Institute.Finding an eye doctor.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Corneal inlays: a surgical alternative to reading glasses.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.LASIK: laser eye surgery.
