subject: Maintaining your Health Includes Proper Eye Care [print this page] Maintaining your Health Includes Proper Eye Care
We live in a time when many people are taking extra measures to care for their bodies and minds. Living a long and healthy life is a real possibility, especially when you watch your lifestyle habits and focus on your intentions of living happily and in optimal health. In order to create a lifestyle which gives you all the joy and activity you wish to enjoy, maintaining your eyesight is essential.Years ago, it was determined that most people will lose some degree of clarity of vision throughout their life. The actual term for this well-known (even if not by name) condition is presbyopia. This is a condition of the eye brought on by nothing more than the aging process. There is no cure; and nothing deliberate that is done to bring it on.Typically what happens in presbyopia is, around the age of forty or so, the fibers in and around the lens of the eye begin to lose their elasticity. The lens, over time, becomes more rigid. The resulting affect is that you notice you are forced to hold reading material an arm's length away from your eyes in order to really be able to read it. Presbyopia can strike anytime; but typically it begins to occur in the forties and can quite possibly increase in degree from that point on.The first treatment most people reach for is that of tried and true reading glasses. Full reading glasses are suitable for people who spend a great deal of time concentrating on material close-up, or even for occasional reading. They are for reading only, though. Try to look up into a room with reading glasses on and your world will seem blurred.Presbyopia can also be accompanied by other vision impairments such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. It is also possible that one eye is affected more than the other. In many cases, contact lenses offer an ideal solution to correction vision problems. And in many cases, contact lenses are the best option. Most people in their forties and above are more active than their parents were. Contact lenses enable you to maintain your health as well as your active lifestyle because they stay seated in the eye even when you are jogging or playing a sport.The contact lenses used to treat presbyopia are called multifocal lenses. They are essential bifocals for the eye. Some multifocal lenses have that tell-tale line that bifocal eye glasses feature; but there is also the option for progressive lenses, which gradually move from one power to another without a clear line.Contact lenses for presbyopia are available in both soft and RGP (rigid gas permeable) variations. They can be designed for extended wear, which stays in the eye for several weeks; or for daily wear. Multifocal lenses are quite comfortable, with the soft versions barely being noticeable once you get used to wearing them.When vision is blurred or distorted in some way, lifestyle is affected. There is no way around that fact. While you may not want to show the world your age, the need for proper eye exams and care is there and will not go away. If you experience problems reading small print or with blurred vision, see your eye doctor and enjoy every moment live shows you.
