What is presbyopia and what is its incidence?
Presbyopia is the loss of the ability to focus up close, that is, we begin to see objects that are 35 cm away from our eyes poorly. It starts between 42 and 43 years of age and gradually progresses until about 60 years of age and almost everyone starts to notice it after a certain age. We must take into account that when we talk about starting to have difficulty seeing up close is with distance correction, that is, if you do not wear glasses, without them you start to see poorly up close and the one who wears glasses to see far away and with those glasses can not focus as well as before up close.
What does optical correction treatment consist of?
There are several optical ways to correct eyestrain. We are all familiar with spectacles, either individual spectacles for near, bifocals with focus for distance and near or progressive lenses with different focuses from distance to near. Another option is progressive contact lenses, which are like regular contact lenses but with several focuses to correct distance and near vision at the same time.
What is the surgical treatment like?
The eye has a window through which light enters called the cornea and behind the cornea there is a lens called the crystalline lens. The crystalline lens is responsible for focusing light from far or near and it is this lens that ages and loses its ability to focus from the age of 42-43 years. As the problem lies in this lens, the best and most modern solution is to replace this lens with a new one. The new lens has a focus for distance, so for distance we will not need glasses, in the center it has some small circles that make us have other focuses at intermediate and near distances, that is why it is called multifocal lens. This lens is new, it will not age and will last a lifetime, we will not have cataracts and we will not have to replace it with another one. It is a very modern technique, the surgery only lasts 4 or 5 minutes, the anesthesia is applied with drops, no punctures, it is not necessary to do any specific test and the intervention is done without stitches and the patient goes home with the eye uncovered. This is the most advanced technique used for practically all cases of eyestrain, although there are other techniques that are used less frequently, such as combined vision or monovision, which consists of leaving one eye for near vision and the other for distance vision, but it will never be as perfect a solution as multifocal lenses.