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5 Ways Aging Affects Your Eyes

5 Ways Aging Affects Your Eyes

For many people, one of the first signs that their eyes are aging happens in a restaurant, where small print and dim lights team up to make that menu hard to read. At first, stretching the menu out as far as your arm can reach does the trick, but pretty soon the dreaded reader glasses become a part of your everyday life. Like the rest of your body, your eyes also age. The following are five ways you might notice your eyes changing.

 

Presbyopia.

This is what we referred to above, when you can’t read the smaller print or can’t see close objects as well as you used to. Typically, this happens slowly over time and most people don’t begin to recognize that there’s been a change until they’re in their 40s. By 50, almost all of us will need some reading correction. It’s a big concern for artists who begin to lose touch with the fine details of their work. For a while, readers and added task light may do the trick. Eventually, CraftOptics offer a great solution with prescription-specific magnification that works with your existing correction to bring details back to life.

 

Low light.

Do you see better in the doctor’s office than you do at home? It could be because your lighting at home is too dim. A study from the Washington University School of Medicine examined older patients’ vision at home and in the office and found a significant difference between the two. The major contributing factor was poor lighting at home. Those 20 year old fixtures that used to be fine with a 60w bulb are no longer sufficient. Add to that, the fact that the muscles that control your reaction to light lose strength as you age, and light becomes a big player for aging eyes. To boost your visual acuity, consider adding more lights or stronger bulbs and using task specific lighting, like the DreamBeam, when working on detailed projects.

 

Dry eyes or tearing.

Your tear ducts are an important part of keeping your eyes healthy but, as you age, you may have issues with them. In some cases, you don’t make enough tears or they’re “low quality” tears and your eyes can get irritated. In other cases, the opposite is true, and your eyes become more sensitive and tear more frequently.

 

Floaters.

Do you ever see little spots – almost like dust mites – float across your vision? These floaters are pretty typical and can happen at any age, but they seem to appear more often as your eyes age. In most situations, they’re normal and nothing to worry about, but they can be a sign that something more serious is happening. If they appear suddenly or with flashes of light, it’s best to connect with your eye doctor.

 

Faded colors.

The cells in your retina that are responsible for your color vision become less sensitive as you age, causing colors to appear less vibrant. This is a normal loss and you need not worry as it’s not a sign of a more seriously underlying condition. But the loss of color distinction can be quite disruptive for someone who works in the arts or with fine detail.

 

If you’re noticing changes in your vision, from too many tears (or not enough) to difficulty seeing and everything in between, we recommend getting in touch with your vision specialist to get a professional opinion. When it comes time to add CraftOptics magnifying eyeglasses with light to your artist’s toolbox, we’ll coordinate with your eye doctor to help you get a customized, prescription-based solution so you can see your artwork in even greater detail than before.