Presbyopia Surgery

What is presbyopia?

Presbyopia usually occurs beginning at around age 40. It is the main visual anomaly that affects the Spanish population and its incidence is increasing.

It is estimated that today 40% of Spaniards struggle with it, which is about 18 million people, and within 10 years, due to the longer life expectancy, more than half of the Spanish population will suffer from this pathology.

The normal eye lens in its normal resting position is able to focus on objects in the distance - long sight. When the vision of nearby objects is required (a book, mobile screen, restaurant menu, etc.), the eye must change its focus by making an effort called accommodation. This effort of accommodation is performed by the lens.

The lens is a part of the eye system, which is behind the iris, and serves to focus the images, in the same way as a camera zoom does.

Over the years, the lens loses its elasticity, and with it, its capability for accommodation, which inevitably causes the so-called fatigued or presbyopic sight, that is to say, the difficulty to see (focus on) near objects.

This elasticity is not lost suddenly but is gradually reduced beginning from the age of 40 - 45 and for about 10 years, until it is completely lost.

PRESBYOPIA TREATMENT

Fatigued or presbyopic sight does have a solution, although each case has to be examined well.

In Eye Clinic Dr. Tirado we offer several alternative treatments, assuming that we have to individualize significantly the decision for each patient and the technique to be used, stipulating a detailed preoperative study.

The techniques used are:

- Laser treatment (Laser Blended Vision)

It is similar to that used to correct myopia and it is called Laser-Blended Vision or Monovision. With this treatment we can correct the fatigued vision, improving the intermediate and near vision considerably.

Although we see with both eyes, one eye is specialized in distance vision (dominant eye) and the other is specialized in near vision (reader eye).

Through the Laser Blended Vision treatment this adjustment is intended to be increased, without modifying the awareness of far-near binocular vision.

We also work with corneal aberrations, reducing positive spherical aberration and increasing the corneal asphericity, which provides greater focus strength when treating any ametropia.

- Presbyopia treatment with intraocular lens (Multifocal Vision), with diffractive lenses.

It involves extracting the lens, which has already lost or is losing its depth of close focus, and replace it with a multifocal intraocular lens, which works as an artificial lens.

The multifocal lens adjusts the eye's focus, letting us see things clearly both up close and far away, our brain chooses the most appropriate point whether we want to see from near or far. In Eye Clinic Dr. Tirado we have been nationwide innovators in this type of implant since 6 years ago, having a great amount of patients undergoing surgery.

With these techniques we aim to eliminate dependence on glasses and contact lenses, that is to say, not need their use for far vision, and be able to reach a proper level of near vision for everyday life.

Both of them are presbyopia outpatient basis treatments and the recovery time is fast.

We are currently working in Madrid on the Supracore techniques for presbyopia, which try to reproduce through laser a focus for near vison and another for far vision on the central cornea, reproducing the same effect that is obtained with the intraocular diffractive lenses, that is making our patients so glad.

It is in presbyopia surgery where the preoperative study needs to be deeply personalised as well as the treatment because it may well vary from one patient to another. During the medical consultation, we will analyse your situation and inform you on the appropriate treatment.

What results can I expect after my presbyopia surgery?

The main symptom of presbyopia is the impediment of focusing clearly on close objects. However, patients operated on presbyopia achieve good near vision, without modifying far vision. In other words, they will be able to see well both from near and far, using their binocular vision.

They will be able to do things they could not do before: see the mobile, read a book, read the menu at a restaurant, even read the small print, like an instruction manual, etc. They will completely stop having that dependence on glasses, something that seemed unthinkable before the intervention.