Presbyopia

Does the restaurant menu seem to be getting smaller? Do you hold your phone further away to read messages? You are not alone: it is presbyopia, a natural change in vision that affects everyone sooner or later.

What presbyopia is

Over the years the crystalline lens, the eye's natural lens, loses elasticity, a bit like an elastic band that has been used for a long time. As a result it finds it harder and harder to focus up close. People usually start noticing it around the age of 40-45. It is not a disease, but a natural process that is easily corrected.

How to recognise it

• Newspaper print seems smaller and smaller
• You stretch out your arms to read your phone
• You need more light for close work
• Fatigue or headaches after reading or computer use

How presbyopia is corrected

1. Reading lenses

Ideal if you only need help up close, for reading books, newspapers or documents.

2. Office lenses (intermediate distance)

Designed for those who spend many hours at the computer or tablet: they focus well at screen and desk distance.

3. Progressive lenses

A single pair of glasses to see well up close, at intermediate distance and far away. We are a Varilux Specialist Centre and with Essilor's Visioffice X+ we measure in a few seconds the centre of rotation of your eyes, your posture, how you use your eyes up close and the position of the frame on your face, to personalise your progressive lenses. And if within 30 days you are not comfortable with them, we replace them with an equivalent solution.

4. Multifocal contact lenses

For those who prefer not to wear glasses, even just on certain occasions.

Tips for getting used to them

1. Choose your lenses based on how you use your eyes during the day
2. With progressives, give yourself a few days to get used to them
3. Update your correction when your vision changes: in the early years presbyopia increases gradually
4. See an ophthalmologist every year