Your eyes age with the rest of your body, and you're more at risk of eye diseases as the years go by. September is Healthy Aging Month, and our eye doctors at Invision Eye Care want to remind you that eye health is just as crucial as your overall well-being. Aging weakens your vision and eyes, requiring more frequent doctor's visits and close attention to visual symptoms such as blurry near vision, cloudy eyesight, and blank spots. Schedule annual dilated eye exams to maintain your vision and identify problems early before they cause permanent vision loss or blindness.
Presbyopia happens to all of us as we age, typically starting in our early 40s. You may notice blurry near vision when you try to read a menu and find yourself moving the paper farther away from your face to see clearly. Presbyopia happens when the eye lens stiffens and loses the ability to adjust focus and accommodate near vision, causing tired eyes and requiring reading glasses. Monovision LASIK or refractive lens exchange with multifocal or toric intraocular lens implants may restore crisp close-up eyesight.
Dry eye disease happens when you don't create enough tears to lubricate the eye's surface properly or have poor-quality tear film that causes tears to evaporate too quickly. Dry eyes are more common in older generations because the lacrimal glands above each eye produce less aqueous (watery) tears with aging. However, clogged eyelid glands (meibomian glands) are the most common cause of dry eye disease. Discuss your dry eye treatment options and tips to reduce symptoms with our eye doctors in Lakewood, New Jersey.
Those tiny spots or squiggles that float in and out of your field of vision may increase with age. Floaters happen as the jelly-like vitreous gel filling the eye's center thickens and shrinks with age, causing tiny clumps that show up in your vision. While floaters are typically normal and nothing to worry about, a sudden increase in floaters may indicate a retinal issue, such as retinal detachment. See our eye doctors immediately if you notice many more floaters or experience light flashes.
Most adults will develop cataracts by their 70s. A cataract occurs when the proteins inside the eye's lens clump together and create a cloudy or opaque appearance that blurs vision. Cataracts are a leading cause of blindness, but the eye disease is curable with cataract surgery or laser-assisted cataract surgery. However, other age-related eye diseases are not as easily treated, such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. That's why annual eye exams are crucial to saving your vision. Once vision is lost, it may not be restored.
Sometimes, your eyes show the first symptoms of a more significant health concern. Routine eye exams may show changes inside your eye that indicate you have high blood pressure, a vitamin deficiency, diabetes, or high cholesterol, or that you are at risk of dementia.
Our eye doctors are experts and leaders in eye surgery and treatments for eye diseases, dry eyes, retinal disorders, and poor vision. Schedule an eye exam at Invision Eye Care Specialists in Lakewood, New Jersey, to discuss your aging eyes. Call our office at (732) 210-0140.
