Presbyopia: “Are my eyes too old surgery?”

As we reach middle age, our eyes become less able to adjust our focusing ability to different distances. Most people start to notice the effects of presbyopia sometime after age 40 when they begin having trouble seeing small print clearly — including newspapers and text messages on their phone. This is because the lens in the eye is gradually stiffening over time, while simultaneously the muscles that allow it to change focus are becoming weaker. The good news is that presbyopia can be easily diagnosed with a routine eye exam, and there are several different treatment options available to help restore near vision. Two of the most common (and highly effective) treatments we offer at Auckland Eye include PRESBYOND Laser Blended Vision and Implantable Contact Lens (ICL).

PRESBYOND Laser Blended Vision

PRESBYOND offers patients a customized treatment designed to achieve independence from glasses by combining the simplicity and accuracy of conventional LASIK with the benefits of increased depth of focus, providing comfortable near, intermediate and distance vision.

Where conventional mono-vision treatments (with contact lenses or conventional LASIK) create a “reading eye” and a “distance eye” with an area of blurred vision in the intermediate range, PRESBYOND Laser Blended Vision extends the range of vision in each eye by customising the laser treatment to turn this “blur zone” into a “blend zone” for comfortable intermediate vision.

If PRESBYOND sounds like something you would be interested in finding out of you are a suitable candidate for, it is important to note that PRESBYOND surgery is only available in Auckland at Auckland Eye.

Implantable Contact Lens (ICL)

Lens replacement involves the removal of your clear natural lens and the insertion of a tiny contact lens inside your eye (not on top of the eye like normal contact lenses). The ICL is placed inside the eye to correct near or far (short or long) sightedness, with or without astigmatism. The implanted lens is specially manufactured for your individual eye contours, so is highly customised to your specific eye shape. Aside from gaining back great vision, having this procedure also means that since you have a synthetic lens, you eliminate the risk of developing glaucoma later in life.

If you are around 45 years of age or older, use glasses predominately for reading and have reasonably good distance vision, or a low prescription for distance vision (such as progressive glasses) you may be well suitable for presbyopia surgery. The first step to finding out if you are a good candidate is to have a comprehensive eye exam.

For further information on ICL and PRESBYOND,  please contact our friendly specialist team to book your free assessment on 0800255393.