Have you heard of the “arms-length menu moment?” It’s that tragic post 40 years of age instance where we are at a restaurant, and suddenly we can’t read the menu at close range.
I’ve gone through it, my loved ones have gone through it. It’s not fun.
My goal with Vicci Eyewear was to make this aging snafu a little more palatable, and recently we’ve teamed up with several board certified optometrists to help us make an even bigger impact.
And so today I want to share a few questions with you, some of the most common ones we receive at Vicci. But I’ll answer them with a bit of help from our talented OD team.
Why can’t I read something close up anymore (menu example)?
This is a common, and highly universal process that kicks in around 40. The clinical term for it is ‘presbyopia’ which means that the natural lens within your eye struggles to alter shape in order to gather focus on items near you.
So you go to grab a menu and your lens struggles to fixate on it properly.
Dr. Barnett puts it this way: “presbyopia isn’t a failure of the eye outright, it’s just a universal and biological process that kicks in around 40.”
Why do my eyes get dry AND feel tired-ish at the same time?
We hear this from a lot of people who reach out to us and are looking to purchase eyewear.
Now this one’s a little less about age and more about reduced blinking. However, getting more sedentary with age can play a role especially if we are spending all that time starting at screens.
Keeping our eyes set on a fixed distance for hours forces our muscles to stay too contracted, causing a dryness sensation.
But dry eyes aren’t always super obvious.
In fact, Dr. Noh, who happens to run a clinic in McKinney Texas, consults with us and says that “watery eyes and sensitivity to light can also be linked to dry eyes.” And that “dry eyes is often the most underdiagnosed conditions in [her] field.”
I guess the thesis here is that you should always defer to an OD or optician with questions when you sense this kind of irritation in vision.
How often should I get my eyes checked as I age?
Dr. Barnett recommends you get a “comprehensive eye exam every one or two years [for adults who wear progressive lenses].”
And I think it’s important to tie this into your eyewear buying process as well. I find that vision needs can change pretty fast as we get older, and you might get a pair now that isn’t perfect in a few years.
Dr. Noh gives insight on the actual eyewear buying process, that if “something doesn’t feel right when you pick up your new glasses, say something.”
Keeping your body and vision well-positioned for years to come
Thinking about post 40 health, we have to consider all areas of the body; especially vision.
There’s no reason to fret or fear your eye care specialist. Visiting with them regularly and consulting about the best eyewear for you, keeps you reading menus at normal length.