Tired Of Reading Glasses? We Can Help!

Older couple sitting at table looking at computer.

For many people, getting older is no picnic. One thing that starts to get worse as we age is our vision, which can be more than a little annoying.

People who have been able to see well often find themselves having to use reading glasses. Sometimes this is the only way they can see up-close again.

But getting older doesn’t have to be a drag. For one thing, there are alternatives to reading glasses! If you’re sick of your reading glasses, there are several options! Keep reading to learn more!

Presbyopia

So why do people need reading glasses when they get older? It’s because when people get older, they often get presbyopia.

You’ve probably heard of nearsightedness and farsightedness, which are refractive errors. Presbyopia is a kind of farsightedness that occurs when the lens loses flexibility.

This happens over time. Presbyopia makes it harder to focus and see up close. Reading glasses can help by magnifying things that you need to see up close. But they aren’t the only option!

Contacts

There are contacts that you can wear that help you see better up-close. These aren’t ordinary contacts because they’re made for presbyopia.

They come in several different types like monovision, bifocals, and multifocal. Multifocals are the most popular as they help you see up close and far away while wearing them.

They are made with rings that each have a different refractive power. Wearing the contacts trains your brain to look through sections of the lens to see what you’re looking at. This is the case whether you’re looking at something near or far away.

Monovision is achieved by having a contact in each eye. In one eye, one is for distance vision and the other is for up-close vision.

The combination lets the patient see better, but with less focus than a bifocal or a multifocal lens. Bifocal contacts act like bifocal glasses.

With bifocal contacts, you look out the bottom to see in focus and look forward in order to see everything else. Both of these kinds of contacts work, but a multifocal feels the most natural for patients.

Surgical Options

If you don’t want to wear glasses or contacts, you can always have your vision corrected with surgery. Eye surgery is a minimally invasive way to fix your vision.

This can do this with LASIK or another form of surgery called Conductive Keratoplasty (CK). LASIK can shape one eye to focus up close and leave the other to see at a distance.

This allows for monovision, much like contacts would. CK is a non-invasive surgery that uses radio waves to correct hyperopia or presbyopia.

Looking for a way to get away from reading glasses? Schedule an appointment at Ellis Eye in San Francisco, CA!

If you don’t want to deal with reading glasses, we can help you come up with the best option for you and your eyes. Get on the road to seeing clearly today and say goodbye to reading glasses for good! You’ll never regret the day you chose clear vision.