Why are my arms not long enough?

What is happening to my eyes!
Presbyopia comes from a Greek word meaning “seasoned eye” .
You have finally reached your 40th year of life and all is well, until you look down at your phone
and notice the font is blurry! Stretching your arm farther away is the only way to make it clearer!
What the heck is going on?!?
Well you finally matured. Relax and remember there is a solution to this problem. There is a
complex focusing system inside your eye. Behind your colored iris sits a lens, this lens is soft
and flexible and can easily change shape, allowing your eye to focus both close-up and far away.
The lens however is constantly growing throughout our lifetime and once it reaches year 40 it
has reached a thickness that creates a more rigid structure. Because it is harder to change its
shape we lose the ability to focus up close.
Unfortunately as of yet there is no way to stop or reverse this processes. It is a normal and
expected age related change. But there is hope, presbyopia can be corrected with eyeglasses,
contact lenses or though surgical correction. If you have trouble seeing both near and far a
progressive lens will provide the most benefit. A progressive lens combines different powers top
to bottom in your eyeglasses allowing you to focus at different distances depending on where
your eye position is. Leaving your eyes uncorrected for presbyopia will lead to frustration, and
may cause headaches or eye strain.
Who knows maybe one day soon eye drops will be able to fix our aging lens! Until that time
seek assistance from your eye doctor, we are here to help and based on your needs for vision can
create the perfect prescription for any task. 

Author

Domenico Rinaldi, OD Dr. Rinaldi received a BA in Biology from Whittier College and went on to receive a doctorate in Optometry from the Southern California College of Optometry. Dr. Rinaldi completed his rotations at Ocular disease intense sites, including several Local Veteran Hospitals (LA ambulatory and Long beach VAs), and has worked with Ophthalmology co-managements helping to diagnose Retinal detachments, Diabetic Retinopathy and Age-Related Macular Degeneration, his studies and interest are in ocular health and vision preservation. Dr. Rinaldi strives to make every patient's experience fantastic. "Patient satisfaction and education is the most important aspect of my office visits, I believe it is important that my patients understand how their eyes function and walk away feeling empowered to protect the health/clarity of their vision."