This has become a very common question in our practice, especially among patients over 50 years of age. It is not a question that is answered with a resounding yes or no, but rather it should be explained how presbyopia can be corrected.
What causes eyestrain?
In this case, it is a hypofunction on the part of the ciliary muscle, which is used for focusing. This hypofunction is caused by growth and structural changes in the lens. This, like other tissues, grows slowly but continuously throughout life, and this growth eventually occupies the space that the muscle uses for focusing.
Because of this, at around the age of 40, one begins to notice a loss of near vision, or certain difficulties in being able to see images that are less than 30 centimeters away. It is then when the crystalline lens, besides growing and hindering the work of the ciliary muscle, gradually loses its transparency, causing the famous cataracts to appear.
Treatments for eyestrain
Once the cause of presbyopia has been determined, it is easier to understand the techniques that can correct presbyopia.
Advances in Ophthalmic Surgery -in fact, it is probably the specialty that has evolved the most in the last three decades- have allowed new solutions to appear in response to patients’ demands. Thus, techniques have appeared that, based on molding or modifying the surface of the cornea with laser, heat, intracorneal implants… have allowed the cornea or a part of it to adapt in order to be able to see up close.
It should be clear that if the cornea has nothing to do with the origin, it will not be the solution.
However, of the techniques to correct presbyopia, the most famous may be Prebilasik, a technique similar to those used to correct myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism, although unlike in these cases, where the correction is for life, in the case of presbyopia the effect is temporary, so it may be necessary to make some touch-ups from time to time.
Other options involve going to the cause of the problem, in this case the crystalline lens. Advances in these surgical techniques allow us to perform most cataract surgeries at virtually any stage of maturity and in a very safe manner. These techniques have been developed in parallel to the intraocular lenses that are implanted in crystalline lens surgery.
These lenses have been developed in such a way that they have the ability to correct defects in the patient’s vision, such as nearsightedness or farsightedness. Nowadays, however, lenses have been developed to correct astigmatism and even presbyopia. Thanks to this, eyestrain can be corrected at the same time as the cataract is removed.
If the question of whether patients with presbyopia and cataracts can be operated on is raised again, the answer would be YES, but with exceptions, apart from selecting patients who do not have another excluding ocular pathology.
The problem and the main doubts appear in patients who ask if they can be operated even when cataracts have not appeared or affected their vision. In these cases, an individual evaluation of each case should be made, finding the possible disadvantages in each case.
In conclusion, it can be stated that presbyopia surgery should be done individually, looking for the best options for each case.
For more information, consult a specialist in Ophthalmology.