Presbyopia

Age related loss of near focusing ability

Overview

Presbyopia is the gradual, age related loss of the ability of the eye to focus on near objects. It results from progressive stiffening of the crystalline lens, together with changes in the ciliary muscle and surrounding structures, which reduce accommodation, the change in lens shape needed to focus up close. It is a normal part of aging rather than a disease, and it typically becomes noticeable in the forties, when small print has to be held farther away to be read. It affects essentially everyone who lives long enough. Optical corrections include reading glasses, bifocals, progressive addition lenses, multifocal contact lenses, and monovision, in which one eye is corrected for distance and the other for near. Surgical approaches include multifocal and extended depth of focus intraocular lenses, corneal procedures, and monovision refractive surgery, and pupil constricting eye drops based on pilocarpine have been approved in some countries to improve near vision temporarily.