Presbyopia

It is the natural ageing process of the eye whereby the eye loses its ability to accommodate – focusing on close-up objects. This ability continually deteriorates from childhood and is manifested in the close-up point (the closest point in front of the eye that the eye still manages to see sharply) receding. The distance of the close-up point moves by some 35–40 cm round about the age of 40–45 and as such the patient begins to have trouble when reading or working on close-up. This error is corrected using plus (+) reading glasses. With age the strength of the required reading glasses increases. Currently, refractive laser surgery is not in a position to eliminate presbyopia (the need of glasses for reading on working on close-up after the age of 40–45) completely. 

At the moment, the best available solution to presbyopia is replacing the natural intraocular lens with a multifocal (trifocal) artificial one. Artificial intraocular lenses are continuously being improved and due to the wide range available on the market it is possible to make an individual choice to best suit each patient.