by Anita Tyler

Created on: March 15, 2010

Presbyopia  or “Aging Eyes.”- The Inevitable Truth About Your Vision

“Getting older is inevitable but losing your vision doesn't have to be”.

Do you still feel young but have trouble reading your magazine or the computer screen? Do you have trouble seeing the menu in the dimly lit restaurant?  Do you strain when trying to read your pill bottles or product inserts?  It seems like just yesterday you were able to read that fine print on a map or in the telephone book, but now suddenly, your eyes are not working as well as they used to, and you need brighter light to see things up close.  This is a very common problem. 

For people over forty, age hits you like a ton of bricks!  One of the first signs of aging is eyestrain while reading. Even if you’ve never needed glasses before for distance vision, you start to have difficulty reading close up.  You find it necessary to hold the newspaper farther and farther away to see it clearly.  However, at the same time, your focus for distant objects seems normal. 

Most people are between the ages of 40 and 50 when they first become aware that they are losing the ability to see objects up close or can no longer read comfortably.  Before you know it, your arms aren't long enough to read anything!

Your big question is “What’s going on with my eyes?"  The answer is that what you are experiencing is a natural aging process of your eye, also known as presbyopia.  By definition:  Presbyopia (pres-bee-oh-pee-uh) is a loss in focusing ability that comes from aging.   (The word is from Greek and means “old sight.”) This condition occurs in nearly everyone at some point in their life, typically near the age of 40.

There is a lens, located behind your iris (the colored part of your eye), known as the crystalline lens.  This lens has been doing a fantastic job of focusing from near to far and back, for a great portion of your life. The lens continues to grow throughout your life and its growth pattern, much like that of an onion, grows new layers over the old ones.  This causes the lens to become thicker and denser over time and eventually will grow thick enough that the ciliary muscle is unable to change the shape of the lens the amount required in order to focus on near-point objects.

Early signs of presbyopia: Your eyes may become tired after a long period of close work. You may notice that

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