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Presbyopia

Also known as age-related long sight, reading vision loss

The everyday reason people start holding menus at arm's length in their forties.

About 1 minute to read

Overview

The lens inside the eye changes shape to focus on near objects. From around the mid-forties it becomes progressively stiffer, and the range over which you can focus shrinks. This is presbyopia, and it happens to everyone eventually.

It is not a disease and not a sign that anything is wrong. It is also not preventable — though it is very correctable, and the number of options has grown considerably.

What are the common symptoms?

  • Holding phones, menus and labels further away to read them
  • Needing brighter light for close work
  • Tired eyes or headaches after reading
  • Blurred near vision that is worse when you are tired or in dim light
  • Difficulty switching focus between near and far

What causes it, and who is at risk?

  • Normal age-related stiffening of the lens and its supporting muscle
  • Begins to be noticed from the early to mid forties in most people
  • Noticed earlier by those who are already farsighted

How is it treated?

The right answer depends far more on how you use your eyes than on the numbers on your prescription.

  • Reading glasses, or bifocal and progressive lenses
  • Multifocal contact lenses, or monovision, where one eye is set for distance and the other for near
  • Occupational lenses set up specifically for a desk and monitor
  • Lens replacement surgery, sometimes combined with cataract surgery
  • Prescription drops that constrict the pupil to extend depth of focus

This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Only an eye care professional who has examined you can tell you what is actually going on.

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Related conditions

Hyperopia (Farsightedness) Close work is hard, and in stronger cases distance blurs too, because the eye focuses light behind the retina. Computer Vision Syndrome Tired, dry, aching eyes at the end of a screen-heavy day — usually from focus, posture and blink rate rather than the screen itself. Cataracts The eye's natural lens gradually clouds, dimming and yellowing vision — and it is fixable with routine surgery. Myopia (Nearsightedness) Distant things look blurred because the eye focuses light in front of the retina rather than on it.
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