Presbyopia aka 老花 – What’s Next?

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What is presbyopia?
Long-sightedness caused by loss of elasticity of the lens of the eye, occurring typically in middle and old age.

Do you switch between different pairs of glasses?
Do you struggle to focus up close and to see things far away?
Do you find it difficult to see in low light?

You are not alone!! There is help!! =)

So I am turning 45 this year and 老花 has definitely caught up with me. For those who knew of my Retinal Detachment Surgery in 2017, ever since then my myopia has shot up to more than –1000 for the affected eye. Technically without my glasses, I am really as blind as a bat. Now with presbyopia, the situation has become a dilemma of whether to move the object nearer or further to be able to see clearly.

Give you an example, when I read a text on my phone, because of myopia I have to move the phone nearer, but due to presbyopia, when I move the phone nearer, the words become blurry. What to do??
Real case scenario: To see the menu in a restaurant, I have to take a photo of the list and enlarge the picture on my phone. Facepalm!

When I was about to resign my life to reading glasses with contact lenses or just normal glasses with on & off difficulty in reading. I was blessed to receive the chance to try try Varilux progressive lenses by Essilor.

Varilux® X series^TM
The Varilux® X series^TM brings the best technology to modern generation of presbyopes who want lenses to match their everyday lifestyle needs. The Gen-X that we have today are multi-taskers who lead fast-paced lives and want to live a full life that is not hindered by the quality of their vision. With this in mind, Varilux X series is a progressive lens designed by Essilor to reinvent near vision and deliver extended near vision within arm’s reach.
With Varilux® X series^TM progressive lens, presbyopes can now swap between screens comfortably and seamlessly capture every detail within arm’s reach with high precision, extending their sharp vision by 100%, in width and length. They will enjoy outstanding sharpness, continuous vision, and fluidity from near to far, without having to adjust their arms or heads to see sharp at close and beyond.
The Varilux® X series^TM is developed by using Xtend™, a new revolutionary technology. With focused efforts on vision at arm’s length, this technology provides an impressive 75% match with wearers’ visual needs. A significant improvement of 59% on average compared to other premium progressive lens. This pioneer approach addresses the main limit of other progressive lenses – the need to adjust their heads or arms to have clear and sharp multiple near distances views.
Furthermore, Varilux® X series’^TM customers can opt for further personalization via Near Vision Behaviour (NVB), a new in-store personalization tool to get patient’s measurements. NVB is a new and simple measure that takes into account a wearer’s behaviour and posture while replicating a key and familiar activity at near, so that their own vision area is positioned and shaped where and how they need it. This new first level of personalization will provide reliable and robust measurements of the wearer’s near vision.

Alright! Enough information for those who really read through the above … Now let’s walk with me through what goes on during the actual action!

 Step 1 – Eye Check
This is very important! Many of us are quite informed when it comes to health checks (full body check up). But do you know that it is equally important to have a proper eye health check every year (especially if you are over 40 years old), or if your family has history of eye problems (cataracts, glaucoma, conjunctivitis, night blindness, red eyes, lazy eye)?

At W Optics, I was treated to the best eye examination in my entire 30+ years of spectacle life. The test was super thorough and it lasted for 1.5 hours.

I went through Refractor test on the machine. I did Slit Lamp Examination. Both my eyes had an Intraocular Pressure check. Amsler Test. Fundus Examination.

Sounds comprehensive right! And thank God, my eye health is fine! Need to stop wearing contact lenses for long hours though.

Step 2 – Understanding of Varilux lens & Near Vision Behaviour (NVB)
Again kudos to the staff at W Optics, with their wealth of knowledge and professionalism, I had a clear understanding of how the Varilux progressive lenses works, and what kind of adjustments I need to have when I am wearing it.

For example, with the new progressive lens, if I want to read an article or my phone, I need to shift my book lower and adjust my eyes to look through the lower portion of the lens, which will help with my far-sightedness problem. I was gently reminded that it would take a while (maybe a week or so) to be comfortable with the adjustments. But little did I know, I was totally rocking the reading skills in less than a day! The power of a 30+ years specky! Haha!!

After choosing my frames, let’s go on with the Visioffice measurements. This machine basically measures the behavior of the person who is wearing the specs.
Things like – What is your eye position behind the frame? What is your reading distance and behavior?

Step 3 – Collect your specs (about 4-7 days for customized lenses like Varilux progressive lens)
Fitting and final check on how to read using the progressive lenses. If you read like the picture on the left, you will not be able to see the words clearly, cos the middle and above portion of the lens is for seeing things in the far. You have to move the paper like the picture on the right. Then while reading through the bottom half of the lens, it works like a reading glass.

Step 4 – Enjoy your life!

With the new lenses, and a bit of adjustments in lifestyle behaviors, I am totally enjoying the convenience of having the best of both worlds!
No more difficulties of reading my phone or menu. No more worries of missing my bus.
Oh … did I mention that my glasses comes with Transitions lens!! How cool!!

Stop procrastinating! If you have not done an eye examination before, head down to one of the outlets at W Optics and get your eye health checked today. And if you are interested to know about Varilux progressive lenses by Essilor, do drop by any of W Optics stores to find out more from their friendly eye care professionals.