Do you ever hold restaurant menus at arm’s length so that you can see the options clearly? Do you get a headache every time you read a book? Are you tired of squinting at your computer screen? As we age, our eyes often struggle to focus on close-range objects. When this happens, many people turn to reading glasses, which improve our ability to see things up close. For years, you’ve probably seen your parents or grandparents pull out a pair of reading glasses in order to sign a check, complete a puzzle, or curl up with a good book. Is it time for you to join them? Scroll down to learn how to know if you need reading glasses.
How to Know If You Need Reading Glasses
When you start nearing your 40s, the internal lenses of your eyes will likely become less flexible. Due to this stiffness, your eyes may not be able to focus on nearby objects like they could when you were younger. Although no one knows what causes this natural condition, which is known as presbyopia, we do know that it affects everyone in time as part of the aging process. Even people who are already nearsighted or farsighted will experience presbyopia as they age.
Symptoms of Presbyopia
Presbyopia causes several common symptoms. If you’re wondering how to know if you need reading glasses, watch out for these signs:
- At a formerly comfortable reading distance, words appear blurred.
- You see more clearly if you hold reading material farther away from your eyes.
- Reading late at night is more difficult.
- Fatigue or stress make it harder for you to read.
- You require bright light to see clearly.
- After looking at objects up close for a while, your eyes feel uncomfortable or tired.
- You have headaches after reading or viewing objects up close (due to muscle tension).
These changes typically develop very slowly over many years, so you may not notice them until they begin to affect your daily life.
Diagnosing Presbyopia
Many people diagnose their own presbyopia based on their inability to read comfortably at a distance that once felt easy and natural. However, any time you notice a change in your vision, we encourage you to visit an optometrist for a full evaluation of your vision. Your optometrist will determine the extent of the issue and provide the appropriate lens prescription.
Although presbyopia cannot be reversed, you can easily treat the issue with a pair of reading glasses. If you already wear corrective lenses for nearsightedness or farsightedness, you may need two sets of glasses or glasses with bifocal lenses (in which the upper part of the lens is used for distance vision and the lower part is used for near vision). Discuss your options with your optometrist to decide what will work best for you.
Although basic reading glasses are available at most drugstores, they aren’t always an ideal option. First, if you don’t already know your prescription, you may have trouble finding the ideal magnification strength for your eyes. Second, these reading glasses use the same corrective strength in both lenses, which won’t work for people who require a different strength for each eye. Third, they don’t correct astigmatism, which is a common eye condition that causes blurred vision. For these reasons, it’s recommended that you visit an optometrist before diagnosing and treating presbyopia yourself. Plus, it’s important to rule out other health conditions that can cause blurred vision.
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Do you think you may have presbyopia? Are you ready for reading glasses? Contact Heffington’s today if you live in the Springfield, Missouri, area.
Since 1975, the Heffington family has been assisting the Springfield community with top-quality eye care and affordable eyeglasses and contacts. One of the unique features of our family-owned business is that we manufacture lenses at our own laboratory, giving us total control over the service and pricing, and we’re happy to pass our savings on to you. To learn more about our products and services, please get in touch with us online, send an email to [email protected], or give us a call at 417-869-3937 (Optiland location) or 417-882-3937 (House of Vision location). We look forward to hearing from you!