20 Nov Far-sightedness & Presbyopia
What’s the difference between far-sightedness and presbyopia?
Far-sightedness (hyperopia) and presbyopia differ – not only in name. Simply explained, the difference is as follows:
People with far-sightedness are generally assumed to have two causes: Either a too “short” eye from the cornea to the retina or a too low refractive power for a normal eye length.
Age-related hyperopia, on the other hand, usually occurs at a later age, as the name suggests.
What they both have in common is that near vision causes difficulties. Focusing in the vicinity is difficult and leads to blurred vision.
Interesting facts about far-sightedness:
- Various studies indicate that most infants are farsighted. This then usually normalises again in the course of the natural growth process.
- Far-sightedness is not as common as nearsightedness.
Does eye training make sense?
Online eye training is primarily designed for presbyopia. Nevertheless, the same exercises usually also work for far-sightedness.
Above all, take care of relaxation of the visual system and adjust the dioptric strength (reduction!) during the eye training according to the progress.
Do the exercises several times a day for a few weeks.
But what exactly does age presbyopia mean?
If, at over 40 years of age, you have to move the text you read further and further into the distance and need significantly more light to read, then you are far-sighted.
Far-sightedness is called presbyopia and occurs around the age of 40.
According to Helmholtz, the reason for presbyopia can be explained by the hardening of the lens or, according to Donders, by the weakening of the ciliary muscle on which the lens is suspended. Both theories are still believed today.
R.F. Fisher and Barbara E. Pettet concluded in 1973, from the fact that the human lens consists of 63 percent water, that there can be neither a significant change in the lens with increasing age, nor that a stiffening of the lens can be the cause of presbyopia.
In 1988 P.F. Fisher stated in the study “Mechanics of accomodation in relation to presbyopia” that the ciliary muscle increases in a compensatory way as soon as the accommodation (dynamic adaptation of the refractive power of the eye) decreases with age. The contraction force at the onset of presbyopia is about 50 percent higher than at a young age.
Ellis examined the strength of the ciliary muscle with modern ultrasound equipment in 1995. According to this study, the ciliary muscle would only lose its strength at the age of 120. This means that the muscle should have sufficient strength over the years to relax the zonula fibers that hold the lens in place. The zonula fibres alter the malleable eye lens by tightening or relaxing it and thus play an important role in accommodation. It provides the optimal refractive power for sharp vision. The thickness of the lens increases by around 0.02 millimetres per year. According to this, at the age of 80 the lens is already twice as thick as at the age of 20.
If your eyes followed the laws of optics, you would suffer from nearsightedness. Because the thicker the lens, the nearsighted the eye. The fact is that so far nobody knows exactly what the exact reason for presbyopia and farsightedness is.
Are reading glasses the solution?
In our society, the only solution for presbyopia is to wear reading glasses or varifocals. Many people experience for themselves that wearing reading glasses usually leads to deterioration. One to two weeks after reading glasses were used for the first time, texts that could previously be read without problems could then only be read with reading glasses.
This means that you become dependent on reading glasses.
Reading glasses allow you to see sharply again by enlarging the texts you have read. This will make it easier for you to read the text, but you have done nothing about the causes of your presbyopia.
The human body adapts to the environment. This is a law of nature. Transferred to your eyes, this means that they adapt to your glasses, which worsens your vision.
The solution for good vision is therefore not to wear reading glasses.
Wearing reading glasses usually leads to further deterioration of vision.
This means that from a diopter strength of +2 dioptres, distance vision is also affected. In order not to have to handle two pairs of glasses, many sufferers decide to use varifocals from this point on.
This usually has three areas of vision, which must be used for the respective visual distance. You must move either the glasses or the head accordingly, which restricts your field of vision and can also lead to neck problems in some cases.
In order to improve your vision or far-sithedness through eye training, it is important to stop using progressive glasses.
It should be replaced by reading glasses and glasses for distance vision.
Eye training is ideal for improving the function of your visual system, restoring your vision completely or giving you the ability to read without glasses.
This also applies to presbyopia in combination with astigmatism or other visual impairments.