Correcting Presbyopia: Contact Lenses

Presbyopia is the loss of close-up focusing of the eye. It's not a disease. It's a normal aging process. When you are younger, the lens in your eye changes shape to focus light directly on the back of your eye (the retina). But as you get older, the lens hardens and can't change its shape as easily.

Contact lenses can correct presbyopia. They focus the image back onto the retina. This way, you can see an object clearly.

There are two kinds of contact lenses that correct presbyopia. If you wear contact lenses, you can also use reading glasses with your regular distance vision contacts.

Monovision contact lenses. These correct one eye for close vision and one eye for far vision. This means one contact lens helps you read and see things that are near. The other contact lens helps you see things that are at a distance.

Multifocal contact lenses. These have several zones or rings at different powers. Some switch between near and far vision. Others slowly change from near to far vision. You don't notice a change from one power to the next. Talk with your eye doctor about which kind of multifocal lens is best for you.