What happens to your eyes to make you need reading glasses?
How do you know if you need reading glasses?
Today is 'Read A Book Day', so when better to delve into reading glasses and why we need them? Relying on reading glasses is a normal part of ageing and it typically happens once a person hits their 40s. In fact, 83% of people aged 45+ rely on reading glasses. Even if you’ve never needed glasses or contact lenses before, it’s very common to need reading glasses when it comes to looking at small text and trying to focus on fine details. Signs that you might need reading glasses can include:
- Difficulty reading in dim lighting
- Holding books or newspapers further away in order to focus
- Headaches when using screens for too long
- Increasing the font size on your phone
If you have reading glasses, you’ll likely find yourself needing to switch between them and your regular glasses, especially in settings such as a restaurant where you’ll want your usual glasses for seeing people’s faces, but your reading glasses for checking the menu.
Why do you need reading glasses from your 40s onwards?
Our eyes are incredible organs but, just like any other part of our bodies, they are subject to ageing and can deteriorate over the years. The natural lens in your eye is between the iris (the coloured part of the eye) and the pupil (the black circle in the middle). The lens flexes in order to focus on different distances. This adaptation to different visual ranges is called ‘accommodation’ and it is something that, when you’re younger, the eye copes with well.
As you age, this lens in the eye becomes less flexible and stiffens, taking longer to focus and struggling to adapt to different visual ranges. This is a gradual process and you may find that it begins with you having to hold a book slightly further away in order to focus on it. In the early stages of the lens deterioration, the issues may not be too bad and not require reading glasses immediately, but this will change over the coming months and years.
How to choose your reading glasses
Thankfully, reading glasses can be picked up cheaply on the high street, sometimes for as little as a couple of pounds from a supermarket. They come in different strengths so, depending on the level of your lens deterioration and reading vision, you can buy different pairs of glasses to suit. The lowest strength reading glasses prescription is 1.00 dioptre and they go up in increments of 0.25 to 4.00. You might need a +1 reading prescription in your early 40s, but then require a +2 in your 50s etc.
You should attend regular eye tests with your optician who can then advise on any changes to your prescription, including what reading addition you require. If you’re unable visit your optician but think you need reading glasses, it can also be as simple as popping down to the local shop and trying on a few different prescriptions to find what works for you. Some people find that they require a couple of pairs of reading glasses – one for close distance like checking their phones and one for middle distances like a computer screen at work.
How can you eliminate the need for reading glasses?
The need for reading glasses can be eliminated with vision correction surgery, and it’s the main reason that patients aged 40+ come to Optimax for a consultation. The most popular choice of treatment for living a life free from glasses, contact lenses, and read glasses is multifocal lens surgery. During this procedure, your eye’s natural lens (which has hardened with age) is removed and replaced with an artificial lens. We offer several different types of lenses at Optimax for lens replacement procedures, however a multifocal lens is what we use to eliminate the need for reading glasses.
A multifocal lens provides multiple focal points which means you will have good vision for close, middle and distant visual ranges. This allows you to ditch your reading glasses and live life with visual freedom. An added bonus of lens replacement surgery is that you won’t need cataract surgery later in life. Cataracts form in your eye’s natural lens but cannot form in an artificial lens, so lens surgery prevents you from dealing with this very common vision issue once you pass your 60s. You can read more about cataract treatment here. If you do have cataracts and would like to have a multifocal lens implanted, you can upgrade your standard cataract surgery lens and have a multifocal lens instead.
Ask us any questions you have about lens surgery and multifocal lenses, either over the phone (just called 0800 093 1110) or via email (enquiry@optimax.co.uk).
