Eat all the carrots you want, but sometime after age 40, close-up objects — the words on a page, the eye of a needle you’re trying to thread — will become blurry. And no, you aren’t going blind: Age-related farsightedness, called presbyopia, is not a disease but an almost inevitable part of midlife and beyond.
While you can’t prevent or reverse presbyopia, there are simple adjustments you can make to help you see more clearly up close.
What Is Presbyopia?
Presbyopia is the result of natural, age-related changes in the lens of the eye. When you’re younger, “Flexibility inside the eye allows it to change focus from objects that are far away to objects that are close,” says Robert C. Layman, OD, president of the American Optometric Association (AOA) and owner of Pinnacle Eye Group in Lambertville, Michigan. “With presbyopia, the lens inside the eye stiffens and becomes less flexible.”
You’ll know you’re developing presbyopia when, for example, you find yourself holding reading material at arm’s length because the words on the page look blurry at normal reading distance. You may also have eye fatigue with headaches when doing close-up work, Layman says. While it may feel as if these symptoms have come on suddenly, the condition actually takes years to develop, he says. Certain factors can speed up the process, including hyperopia (farsightedness not related to aging), chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, smoking, and certain drugs (antidepressants, antihistamines, and diuretics).
“My observation is, people who take good care of themselves — for instance, who don’t smoke, who drink minimal alcohol, and exercise — tend to have later onset of presbyopia,” says Brian Boxer Wachler, MD, director of the Boxer Wachler Vision Institute in Beverly Hills, California.
5 Tips for Clearer Close-Up Vision
Reading glasses are the most common first step in dealing with presbyopia, but there are other things you can do to make it easier to see up close.
See your eye doctor. Although presbyopia is normal, it’s wise to have your eyes checked when you notice it, if you haven’t already. (The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends everyone have a baseline comprehensive eye exam, which evaluates eye health as well as vision, at age 40.) An eye doctor can determine what strength reading glasses you need if you plan to try them or, if you already wear glasses or contacts for distance, help you decide if you want to try bifocal or progressive lenses. You might even be a candidate for multifocal contact lenses that restore what’s called near focus, essentially focusing your eyes on an object about 10 to 13 inches away.
Upgrade your lighting. It can be harder to see in low light when you have presbyopia, so you may instinctively find yourself switching on lamps and overhead lights more often than usual as your near vision worsens. But you may want to be more deliberate about adjusting the lighting in areas where you often need to see close up, such as your desk or bedside.
Start by adding more lighting in these areas so you can sit between 16 and 20 inches away from your work and still see well — a distance Layman says is comfortable for most of his patients. Try switching to brighter bulbs and experimenting with the angle of adjustable lighting to both illuminate your work and cut glare, which is common with presbyopia. Other remedies for glare include using translucent lampshades and light-filtering blinds or shades on windows that let in bright sunlight.
Adjust your devices. It’s obvious but worth mentioning: Computers, tablets, and cell phones have built-in fixes in settings for near-vision changes. If you’re struggling to make out words or images on a screen, you can always make them bigger. You can also use bigger fonts when typing on a screen, Dr. Boxer Wachler says. You might also experiment with bolder font styles and increasing the brightness on your screen.
Wear proper eyewear when driving. On sunny days, prescription sunglasses that correct for presbyopia (typically bifocals or progressives, which also correct for distance) can make it easier to see your speedometer and controls inside your car, says Layman. Driving at night can be trickier, since headlight glare can be more intense and make it more difficult to see. For this reason, you may want to plan to drive during the day as much as possible and spend less time behind the wheel at night as well as at dusk and dawn.
Give your eyes a break. When you’re doing close-up work for extended periods, you run the risk of eyestrain as well as dry eyes. You can minimize both by wearing the proper corrective lenses for the task: for example, readers for reading and computer glasses for working on a laptop or other screen that’s slightly farther away.
It’s also vital to get into the habit of blinking often and taking your eyes off your work at regular intervals. The AOA suggests following the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, spend 20 seconds looking at an object that’s 20 feet away.
The good news: Around age 60, your presbyopia will start to level out, which will help stabilize your vision, according to the AOA. While it will still be important to have regular eye exams, you probably won’t need a prescription change as frequently.
