Q: What causes people to have to wear reading glasses at any age?
A: When you are young, the lens in your eye is flexible. Your eye changes the shape of your lens easily, allowing you to focus on objects at near and in the distance. As you grow older, your lens becomes less flexible. By the age of 40, the lens cannot change shape as easily as it once did and it is more difficult to read. This perfectly normal condition is called presbyopia.
You can also have presbyopia in combination with myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism. No exercise or medication can reverse the presbyopic process.
You have the following options:
• Reading glasses or bi-focals to help your eyes focus.
• Contact lenses set for one eye distance and one eye near.
• Lasik surgery set for one eye distance and one eye near.
• Clear lens extraction with the new presbyopic multifocal IOL that lets you see clearly at near and in the distance.
Seltzer Laser Center
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