Why do older people have presbyopia?
Age-related farsightedness is an unavoidable problem. How quickly or slowly symptoms appear depends on various individual factors.
On average, people aged 40 and above often begin to experience “symptoms of presbyopia”, which include difficulty seeing up close, needing to squint, having to extend the arm to read, and blurry vision at night.
When trying to focus for a long time, symptoms such as eye strain, eye fatigue, eye pain, and pain around the eyes occur. The focusing ability decreases with age, making it necessary to wear glasses for near vision tasks such as using a computer or looking at a phone screen. If the person originally had nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism, they may need to switch to bifocal or progressive glasses.
Methods to correct or treat presbyopia
Uncorrected presbyopia affects quality of life, reduces work efficiency, damages appearance, lowers confidence, and increases the risk of accidents.
The easiest way to correct it is by using lenses to compensate for near vision, such as reading glasses, bifocal, or progressive glasses. However, wearing these types of glasses may be inconvenient or hinder various activities.
Currently, there are developments in treating presbyopia using laser to reshape the cornea to increase the focal range. This modern method is becoming increasingly popular because research supports its effectiveness and safety.
LASIK for people over 40 years old
People over 40 with congenital nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism combined with presbyopia can be treated with three methods:
- Full correction is laser correction of congenital refractive errors, resulting in the clearest distance vision. However, natural presbyopia will still occur, requiring glasses for near work.
- Monovision corrects both distances by making the dominant eye clear for distance vision and the non-dominant eye slightly nearsighted for near vision. Using both eyes together allows seeing at both distances but requires adaptation time after treatment because the two eyes have different prescriptions. Depth perception or night distance vision may be somewhat reduced.
- Presbylasik or the Presbymax program is a new, complex technology that treats congenital refractive errors and presbyopia simultaneously, allowing clear vision at near, intermediate, and far distances in the same eye without relying on glasses. It enhances overall visual performance.
Laser correction reshapes the cornea to have multiple focal points, increasing the depth of focus, designed to work with the pupil’s function.
After FemtoLASIK with the Presbymax program, using both eyes together provides clear vision at far, intermediate, and near distances without glasses. Adaptation is less confusing than monovision because the difference between the two eyes is minimal. Distance vision may not be as sharp as with full correction, and some may need glasses for distance vision occasionally, such as night driving.
Since eye muscles and lenses continue to deteriorate with age, the effectiveness of this treatment lasts about 5-10 years, depending on the strength of the eye muscles. Results vary among individuals.
Dr. Kittikamon Wongpaisansin
Cornea Specialist
LASIK Center, Phyathai 3 Hospital
