Patient Education Series: PRESBYOPIA (老花)

Causes: Your eyes are able to focus on near and far objects with the help of tiny ciliary muscles attached to your eyes’ natural lenses. These muscles contract when you’re using your handheld device, and relax when you’re looking out for the bus.

But as you age, the ciliary muscles weaken. Ageing also affects your eyes’ lenses, causing them to become rigid and less easy to reshape.

Ageing aside, there are other factors that can exacerbate presbyopia. Having certain diseases such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis or cardiovascular risk can increase one’s risk of premature presbyopia.

If you’re taking certain medicines, such as antidepressants or antihistamines, you may also be more prone to early presbyopia.

What are the signs: Your eyes can’t focus on things near you, such as reading the text messages on your handphone. You find yourself having to hold the material further away in order to read more clearly. In addition, your eyes feel unusually strained when reading or doing near-sighted work.

What you can do now: There’s nothing you can do to prevent presbyopia. Still, it is always good to keep to the 20-20-20 rule: For every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, look at something 20 feet (or 6m) away for 20 seconds.

Ensure good and comfortable lighting during reading to prevent eye strain.