Q: I have heard that some new eyedrop can restore my near vision, instead of needing readers or bifocals. How could this work?
A: We now have two new formulations of eye drop medicines to improve your near vision due to presbyopia. First, please know that our natural ability to focus up close declines throughout life. Most of us notice this after age 40, and begin using readers or some type of eyeglasses to restore our near focusing along with any distance clarity issues.
The new eye drops do work. After instilling one drop in each eye in about an hour your near focusing will be improved. Early studies show that people gained about 2 smaller lines of reading a near vision eye chart with little impairment of their distance vision. While this is encouraging, there are some trade offs and potential pitfalls.
First, the near focusing improvement is not as dramatic as that provided by ophthalmic lenses prescribed accurately for your reading. We are able to give stronger focusing power with lenses, and if you have some astigmatism ( as almost all people do ) we can correct that too. So today, eyeglasses still give the sharpest near vision. However, being free of glasses or especially those “ I’m over 40 readers” is appealing.
The downsides are that the eye drops do not last all day, and for some patients the benefit is only good for a couple hours. Some people experienced red eyes, irritation, or even a mild headache with the medications. And some patients had trouble changing focus from near to distance, more concerning, trouble seeing well in dim or dark lighting…..like driving home after dark. Much more serious, but rare, is the potential for a retinal detachment.
If this option sounds appealing to you, step one would be a discussion with your eye doctor after your next eye exam. Because the benefits and satisfaction seem to vary so much from person to person, you may need to have this prescribed by your eye doctor and see for yourself how much they help you. Larger studies will help to learn who benefits the most and who may encounter unpleasant or dangerous side effects. And soon, we should have these eye drops available in different strengths. This should help us choose which Rx is best for you based on age, other eye health factors, and your vision needs / expectations