Can You See "E" Now? Wearing Contact Lenses After 40.

Once we hit our forties, we all experience the feeling that our arms are not long enough.  Pulling our reading material away, we curse under our breath that type has become smaller and smaller.  What really lies behind this situation is the loss of accommodation.  While we are young our lens has the ability to swell changing our focal point and providing us with clear vision both at distance and near-this is known as accommodation.  Like the rest of our body, the aging process takes its toll on our eyes and our lens begins to lose this ability. 

So we accept that this is natural, but how can we contact lens wearers adapt to this change?  There are a few options:

Option #1: Distance only

You can correct both eyes to see clearly in the distance.  You will remain glasses free while running or enjoying a movie, but this will mean that whatever you hold up close will be blurry.  You will need to join the masses in stockpiling mounds of reading glasses to assist you in your close range tasks.

 

Option #2: Multifocals

There are a few multifocal contact lenses on the market.  They employ different designs to offer near and far correction in one lens.  This is kind of a hit or miss deal.  Some patients love their multifocals while others never have luck with them at all.  As a general rule, distance vision may not achieve 20/20 at distance or near, but the multifocal aspect may provide the best help with the midrange (computer distance) vision.  Many patients who opt for this are willing to forego having crisp distance vision.

 

Option #3: Monovision

One eye (generally the dominant eye) is set to correct distance vision while the second eye is set to correct near vision.  In most, the brain will automatically choose which eye to pay attention to.  This can take a while for your brain to adjust to so make sure you give it a fair shot.  Try it for a few days before you become frustrated.

 

You can wear contacts after 40!

It’s good to know that there are ways to cope with presbyopia (or the loss of accommodation-also known as living past 40).  When you find that fountain of youth, let us know.  In the meantime, we will make sure you can keep on looking for it. 

See you soon!