Common Vision Problems at Old Age

Vision problems are common if you are in your forties. There is no need to panic if, one fine day you realize that your need to squint a little to read words that you normally used to without even batting an eyelid!

Here a short account on the likely vision problems that may occur as we age. A little awareness goes a long way in accepting the changes that take place in our body and face, and maintain a positive attitude towards the process of aging.

Nearsightedness and farsightedness are quite common among people approaching middle age. There is no need for concern as this is just another way you body is telling you, “Hey, take it easy, you are not growing younger!”

In the field of medicine, vision problems such as nearsightedness and farsightedness are termed as refractive error of the eye.  

Refractive errors are quite common vision problems that rise due to problems in refraction. These errors are also known as nearsightedness, astigmatism, farsightedness, and presbyopia. Refractive errors crop up the person’s shape of the eye, prevents the ray of light from focusing directly onto the retina. When there is a change in the length of the eyeball, i.e. when the eyeball is longer or shorter, when there are changes in the shape of the cornea, or when the lens of the eye are aging, refractive errors can occur. People may have one or more of these conditions.

This is a universal problem and very much age related.

Common types of refractive errors are

• Farsightedness, also known as hyperopia
• Nearsightedness, also known as myopia
• Astigmatism
• Presbyopia

In hyperopia, the person can see the distant objects clearly, but the ones that are near are not very clear. This condition need not be experienced by old people alone. There are people who have this kind of a vision problem even when they are young. On the other hand, there is a possibility that people with hyperopia experience significant farsightedness, where vision can be blurry for objects that may be at any distance, near or far.

In myopia, the objects that are close by appear clear. But the objects far away look blurry. This is a condition when the light comes to focus in front of the retina, while it needs to be on the retina.

Astigmatism is a condition where the person sees blurred images throughout. This happens when the eye does not focus light in an even manner onto the retina.

Presbyopia is a condition when people lose their ability to focus objects that are close to them. This happens when the eyes age, and it takes the lens longer to change its shape enough to allow the eye to focus clearly on the objects close by.