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Celebrating your 39th birthday….Again?

Is it getting harder to read your birthday cards this year? As much as we’d all like to deny our age, sometime around the age of 40, most of us start noticing that our eyes are losing the ability to focus as easily as they could when we were younger. This condition, known as presbyopia, affects our capacity to focus clearly on printed text, computer screens, photographs, and other nearby objects.

In the past, bifocals were often the answer, providing the wearer with two powers: one for distance and one for close-up viewing.

Today’s progressive lenses, however, provide multi-focal viewing power, enabling seamless focusing transitions. These popular lenses allow you to see far, intermediate, and near distances, without the distraction of lines. And because of the progressive focusing power, you don’t need to bob your head up and down, trying to determine if you can see something more clearly through the upper or lower part of the lens. Progressive lenses also eliminate “image-jumping”—a common problem caused when a bifocal wearer’s line of sight is interrupted by the lenses’ abrupt power changes.

Of course, progressive lenses also tend to make you look younger—–there’s no bifocal line to advertise your age! When others look at you, there’s no distracting line interrupting their view of your eyes and face.

Ask your eyecare provider if you are a candidate for progressive lenses. He or she will help determine the right type for you, and will be able to recommend lens treatments to complement your lifestyle.

An intraocular lens, or I-O-L, is the artificial lens implant that replaces the eye’s natural lens after cataract surgery. Recent advancements in lens technology have made it possible to not only treat the cataract, but to reduce or eliminate dependence on glasses as well. In most cases the patients have reported having the best vision of their lives.

Since no single lens works for everyone, there are four major types of I-O-Ls produced, they are: Monofocal, Multifocal, Accommodative, and Toric. Each lens is made of materials such as soft silicone or acrylic, and is approximately a quarter of an inch in diameter.

During cataract surgery a local anesthesia is administered. The surgeon will make a small incision in the eye, and the I-O-L is gently unfolded and placed behind the iris. In most cases the patients are able to go home the same day.

The procedure of cataract removal and I-O-L implantation has one of the best success rates of all surgeries. But with all surgeries, it is important to know the risks, and discuss the options with your eye care provider to help you determine the most appropriate treatment option for you.