Frequently asked questions: all about PRESBYOPIA

PRESBYOPIA: all the answers to your questions!

1. What is presbyopia?
2. When do you become presbyopic?
3. What are the signs of presbyopia?
4. Can a bad correction from afar make you believe in the onset of presbyopia?
5. Why do people with presbyopia need more light to read at night?
6. Does everyone become presbyopic?
7. Do we all become presbyopic at the same age?
8. How does presbyopia evolve?
9. What is accommodation?
10. How is presbyopia corrected?
11. Should I correct my presbyopia or is it possible to wait?
12. Can presbyopia increase a convergence defect?
13. If my eyes don't look in the same direction, will I be embarrassed to see up close?
14. Can orthoptic rehabilitation delay or improve presbyopia?
15. What is the ideal reading distance?
16. How is presbyopia corrected?
17. What lenses to correct presbyopia?
18. How often should I change my presbyopia glasses?
19. Is there a way to prevent presbyopia?
20. Is presbyopia a pathology?
21. How to choose the correction of my presbyopic glasses?
22. What to do if you feel like you can't see well?
23. Is it possible to stop presbyopia?
24. What are the risks incurred in the event of presbyopia not or poorly corrected for screen work?
25. Are people who read a lot or who often work on screen more affected by presbyopia?

Presbyopia is the fact of not seeing well up close, close objects become blurred. It is linked to a decrease in the accommodating power of the eye. Presbyopia is the fact, for someone who is corrected for distance vision, to experience discomfort in near vision: it is linked to a normal decrease, over time, in the accommodative power of the eye.

We generally become presbyopic around the age of 40-45 depending on the patient.

Presbyopia affects near vision. The first signs that we notice are:
You take your newspaper, your documents away more and more to read
You find it increasingly difficult to follow the lines when you write
You have the impression of lacking light and simple daily tasks (putting on make-up, cooking, DIY, doing precision work, etc.) become complicated!
You find it difficult to fix your attention when reading; you may even drop a book or fall asleep.

Yes, indeed an overcorrected myope will take off his glasses to read and on the contrary an undercorrected farsighted person will find it difficult to read even with his glasses.

Low lighting decreases the contrast of your text; this causes an increased demand on your accommodation. In addition, the narrowing of the pupil linked to accommodation decreases the amount of light permeating the retina.

Yes. Whether you have a visual defect (myopia, astigmatism, etc.) or not, presbyopia is an inevitable development; this is a normal and natural phenomenon.

No. A farsighted person will complain about it sooner, especially if his correction is important; around 40 years old.
The emmetrope (person who has no visual defects) will complain about it around 42-44 years old. And the short-sighted sometimes after 45 years!

Presbyopia evolves with the accommodation capacity of the eye, it is for the eye to vary its power to obtain clear vision at the desired distance. The accommodative power of the eye evolves from childhood to reach its maximum around 20 years. It then decreases. At 45, accommodation is weak and reading becomes difficult. The fall in accommodation continues quite rapidly until age 55 and is less pronounced thereafter. After 60 years the value of presbyopia stabilizes to no longer vary after 70 years.

Accommodation is an involuntary modification of the power of the eye; it allows you to clearly see objects located at a specific distance. This modification of the eye is done by a change in shape of the lens. This is what is compared to the autofocus system of the camera.

Presbyopia can be corrected by:
-near vision glasses, proximity glasses, progressive or bifocal glasses
-progressive contact lenses
- refractive surgery

This question is very frequently asked, especially by emmetropes (non-wearers of glasses) who out of coquetry do not wish to wear glasses. Sight, like the other senses, evolves over the course of our lives and not wearing glasses is "using out" the accommodative power of the eye. So not necessarily necessary… Delaying the wearing of compensation will not slow down the development of presbyopia; it is better to find optimal visual comfort, especially since adapting to progressive and decreasing lenses is more successful among young presbyopes.

Presbyopia is linked to an accommodative insufficiency; convergence being closely linked to accommodation, the onset of presbyopia can relieve excess convergence (esophoria) or amplify a lack of convergence (exophoria).

Yes, if it is a lack of convergence. In this case, your ophthalmologist will refer you to an orthoptist for an assessment and rehabilitation. If it is a strabismus, no: your accustomed brain neutralizes one of the images.

No, orthoptic rehabilitation does not reduce or delay this visual defect.

The near vision distance is Harmon's distance; it corresponds to the distance from the elbow to the folded fist. It is on average 37 cm and is the most comfortable distance for close work. Near visual examinations of mink are usually performed at this distance.

Presbyopia has been corrected with convex lenses since the Middle Ages. This is a converging lens that will "do the work" of the lens and bring the image back to the retina.

There are different types of lenses to correct presbyopia:
Single vision lenses or single vision lenses
Proximity lenses
Bifocal or trifocal lenses
Progressive lenses

On average, you have to change your presbyopic glasses every 18 months up to the age of 55 and then every 2 to 3 years thereafter. It is sometimes necessary to renew them not because of the development of presbyopia but because of a change in the correction of distance vision.

No, no prevention exists; presbyopia being a normal phenomenon. No rehabilitation, visual gymnastics, no food supplements can prevent this development.

No, it is not a pathology but a physiological state which can be corrected perfectly and does not affect the autonomy of individuals. There are approximately 24 million presbyopes in France.

Several solutions are available to you :
You have a prescription, the correction is for near vision.
You can print our presbyopia test or do it directly on the screen.
You have half-moons or emergency magnifying glasses: the correction is noted inside (eg: +1.00, +2.50, etc.)
In any case, for more information our qualified opticians are at your disposal by email at opticien.conseil@varionet.fr or at 07.77.46.56.62.

In this case, the first thing to do is to consult an ophthalmologist who will prescribe reading glasses, proximity glasses or progressive glasses according to your needs and visual corrections.

No, this is impossible; presbyopia being due to a natural and normal development of the lens.

The main risk is visual fatigue and all its side effects. Your vision will be difficult and painful, concentration difficult, you may experience tingling and heaviness in the eyes and then headaches. Finally, by trying to have a clear vision, you will adopt a "turtle" posture with the neck forward, this is how neck, shoulder and back pains appear. Failing to correct presbyopia not only has an impact on visual comfort but also on the body.

No, presbyopia affects the whole population more or less later. People requiring more of their near vision (reading, writing, precision work, etc.) may feel the presbyopia genes more quickly.