Two things:

1. Do I have presbyopia or not? My symptoms are in line with this condition that occurs most often at ages 35-40. I am a little younger than that at 23 but I have trouble seeing from near with glasses/contacts. I have +2.5 diopters of accomodation meaning I can barely see down to 16 inches with my glasses on, any closer and it becomes blurry. Forget seeing fine print with glasses. My nearpoint test is 20/40 with glasses. I guess my presbyopia would be mild accroding to the nearpoint snellen. However I can see much better from near with weaker glasses or without them. With contacts I use reading glasses to make things from near clear(er)

2. People keep saying my 20/30 BCVA with -5 glasses isnt "perfect" vision. I was talking to a lady and she knows many others not correctable to 20/20 either. I told her theres many factors that determine one's BCVA such as astigmastims, high order abberations, how bad your vision is, how much your pescription glasses minify, the shape and optics of your eyes and retina. Some people see better than 20/20, does this make those 20/20 abnormal? Why is it dictated that you "must" have perfect vision with(out) correction or something is "wrong"
To my knowlege, I have no pathalogies. My entire family is in glasses and only my brother and sister get close to 20/20 with glasses, but brother is only a -1 with slight astigmastim and sisters about a -3 with slight astigmastim as well. I am much more myopic at -4.5 to -5

3. My online friend discussed wavefront RGP contacts. I know its true RGP contacts provide the sharpest vision so I have a good chance of achieving 20/20, especially with custom wavefront RGP contacts made to fit my cornea perfectly. This will reduce my dependancy on glasses but ill still need reading glasses over them for near work. I also dont know how comfortable they are but she says much more than your basic soft contacts which are a one size fit all.

Hi Myope. As far as I know presbyopia is caused by aging and 23 is way too young. It occurs because the lens becomes rigid and unable to focus at close distances. This is a different condition than not being able to see close because of farsightedness. In a sense, wearing -5 glasses for myopia makes you farsighted at close range. Wouldn't bifocals be the answer to your problem?

Torre

When my daughter was around 6 or 7, she was given bifocals to allow her to read with her glasses on. She is about a -10, and looking through that much perscription of a lens to see things up close was difficult.

Now, 20 years later, she wears contacs, and has for about 15 years. She bought some OTC reading glasses, but I don't know how much she uses them. But they served the same purpose for her in her mid-twenties that the bifocals did when she was small.

My dad was nearsighted in his teens through the age when presbyopia hits. Then his eyes went the other way, leaving him with 20/20 without any glasses. He does wear drug store reading glasses.

My vision was much like yours, Myope (-5.5). When I was 37 I lost the ability to change focus from near to far and back without a lot of effort, so I got bifocals, then, later on, progressives. But mid-thirties is pretty early for presbyopia. I'm guessing at more than 10 years younger, you are just experiencing the strain of looking through a strong correction for distance when you are reading up close.

Can you read without your glasses or contacs? Before my cataract surgery I could read without glasses as long as the paper was 6½" from my eyes.

well a -10 pescription minifies 20% so of course bifocals will help out quite a bit in making things larger and sharper. It will also greatly slow down myopia progression caused by close work with glasses.


many people become slightly farsighted when they get older, this explains why I see so many people with + glasses. Some are farsighted but can accomodate and once presbyopia hits them they are in bifocals.

37 isnt unusual to start developing presbyopia. I am 23 and have difficulty seeing from near with full correction. without correction I am in focus at 1/5 of a meter.


any opinions of BCVA less than 20/20? I think it doesnt usually mean anything is wrong, I mean it could just be astigmastim and/or HOAs

I have a very mild astigmatism and wear -.5 distance contacts. With one in both eyes they can correct me to 20/10. I do however normally wear a reading contact of +1.75 in my left eye which does make my distance vision with it in about 20/20 or so...depending on how tired my distance eye is. Have you tried the monovision? It took me a while to acclimate to it but I could tell as soon as I put the reading lens in that it was going to work for me. Depth perception is tricky at times (like mowing the grass....hard to tell where you've been because it's all green). But I love them!

are you farsighted? I am confused. Ok your 20/10 with correction, how well do you see without correction? You wear monovision contacts to undercorrect one eye? I dont like monovision, doesnt work for everyone.