Eyesight tends to deteriorate as we get older; loss of clear vision can be un-nerving and the reliance on corrective eyewear means people lose the freedom of independently clear sight.
Your ability to deal with your surroundings depends on your eyesight, so Laser Eye Surgery at Optilase Clinic, to correct vision where possible, can give people back their sense of independence.
There will be a decline in eyesight that is unavoidable; it’s often one of the first senses to become affected by age. Monitoring vision changes and identifying problems will mean you can visit the eye doctor to get to the root of the issue.
Regular Check-Ups
It’s important to be able to distinguish between normal aging processes, and vision changes that might signify a more serious eye disease. Only a doctor can diagnose this, so it’s worth having regular check-ups.
Anatomical Changes to the Eye with Age
The various structures of the eyes allow us to see clearly at different distances, and under a number of different lighting conditions. These all start to wear down as we get older.
Common age-related vision complaints include:
- Colours are not as vivid
- Difficulty seeing objects close at hand
- Trouble seeing in the dark
- Adapting to glare difficult
- Needing more lighting to see properly
The most significant age-related changes seem to occur in the lens and the pupil; these account for the majority of vision limitations people experience as they get older. The extent to which these changes affect vision varies a bit with each person.
Age Related Changes
1) Pupils become less responsive to variations in light
It is the pupil that controls the amount of light entering the eye to reach the retina and form an image. Pupils decrease in diameter as we age, so less light enters the eye; seeing in dim conditions is difficult.
As the pupil is less responsive, it reacts slowly to sudden glare as it takes longer to adapt to light changes. We need longer to adjust if we walk into a dark cinema or a bright room, particularly moving from one extreme of light to another.
Ways to Help
- Increase the amount of ambient light in your home
- Use task-specific lighting for reading or close work
- Avoid lights that give off a direct glare
2) The lens of the eye loses elasticity
Just as our muscles and joints get stiff, so too do we lose flexibility of the lens in our eyes, making it harder to bend to focus on near objects. The loss of this focus is called Presbyopia, or aging of the eye.
This lens stiffening tends to set in around age 45 and worsens progressively.
Optilase offer highly effective inlays which help correct the effects of presbyopia; ask about Kamra Treatment and Presbia.
3) Yellowing of the lens in the eye
Just like old linens, the lens can yellow with age, which impacts the perception of colour. This is why objects may appear faded or not as vivid.
The yellowing effect absorbs and scatters blue light, so it’s hard for us to see the differences in shade of blue, green and violet. Contrast between colours is less obvious-it manifests itself in difficult picking out matching clothes for many people.
It also makes it difficult to see where one object stops and the other begins, or to distinguish objects from their background. This is why many people have a hard time seeing curbs or steps.
Talk to your eye doctor about the severity of your problem to see if there are any recommendations for you.
Lifestyle and Nutrition
In addition to certain nutritional deficits, other lifestyle choices may speed up cross-linking and put lens health at risk. These include smoking and excessive exposure to UV rays from the sun.
Abnormal Symptoms
Regular eye examinations should be part of your routine; as eye diseases like macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal detachment are often painless and the onset is gradual, they can greatly impair vision if not promptly treated.
If you have an eye condition that is due to disease, there are probably many effective medical treatments available to ease its impact. The key is getting a diagnosis as soon as possible to learn about your options.
Call Optilase on +353 1 223 8821 for your free consultation to see if your vision loss can be easily corrected, and address any age-related vision troubles as they arise by making some changes in your surroundings/lifestyle to compensate.
