Alcon^® OPTI-FREE^®

Contacts & Aging

As we age, certain changes are inevitable. And while you may be ready for wrinkles and grey hair, it may be time to consider the ways in which aging affects your eyesight and contact lens wear. Even if you had perfect 20/20 vision for most of your life, as you enter your forties, the chances of developing an eye condition greatly increase.

The most common age-related vision disorder is called presbyopia, and it generally diminishes your ability to focus on close-up objects — small print may be more difficult to read, you may have difficulty seeing fine details, etc. And while it's true you could probably get by with "cheater" reading glasses for a while, you're going to need to see an eye doctor eventually. And sooner is always better than later.

How Contacts Can Help

Maybe you're facing vision correction for the first time. Maybe you already wear contacts, and just need an adjustment to your prescription. Regardless, contact lenses can help treat a variety of eye conditions, including age-related presbyopia. Even if you learn you need bifocal lenses, contacts can offer a variety of solutions (For more information on the ways that contacts can substitute for bifocals glasses, click here).

Contact lenses are generally safe for your eyes at any age. However, if you do decide to use contacts as you get older, it is crucial to see your eye doctor for regular checkups. For one, your prescription will likely change more frequently as you age, so you'll need to make sure your contacts are up-to-date. Also, it's important to begin regularly screening for vision disorders, as the likelihood of you developing such conditions increases as you age.

What You Can Do

Studies have shown that certain nutrients may help protect your eyes from the effects of aging. Our bodies do not manufacture many of these nutrients on their own, so we must get them through diet or by taking vitamins. Alcon makes a vitamin specifically formulated with the nutrients for healthy eyes. These ICAPS^® Eye Vitamins are available in a variety of formulas, including one specially designed for aging eyes. For more information, visit icapsvitamins.com.

Contact Lens Dry Eye

Although there are many age-related eye conditions, including glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration, one condition that is of particular interest to contact wearers is Dry Eye Syndrome.

You see, as we age, our eyes begin to produce fewer tears, or tears that dry up sooner than they should. Without the tears' moisture and protection, our eyes can develop gritty, uncomfortable dry eye spots. These are the symptoms of Dry Eye Syndrome. Dry eye can be exacerbated by any numbers of things, including hormones (which is why women entering menopause are the most common group of dry eye suffers), certain medications and climate.

Even contact lenses can add to this problem, as they tend to absorb some of the moisture in your eyes. This contact lens dry eye can lead to uncomfortable lens wear, but there are steps you can take.

A multi-purpose solution like OPTI-FREE^® RepleniSH^® can help your contacts retain moisture to some degree, but the most common treatment for Dry Eye is an artificial tear drop.

Alcon offers one such dry eye drop, SYSTANE^® Lubricant Eye Drops, which provides long-lasting relief from the symptoms of dry eye. And, when used before inserting contact lenses, and after taking them out, SYSTANE^® Lubricant Eye Drops can actually help extend comfortable lens wear time. For more information, visit systane.com.

Contacts & Bifocals

For people who need to wear bifocal lenses, but don't wish to wear bifocal glasses, there are several options that make use of contact lenses.

One option, for instance, is to wear contact lenses for distance vision and use glasses over them for reading or other close-up work.

However, for those who don't wish to wear glasses at all, there is a technique for lens fitting known as monovision. With monovision, a person is given two different contact lenses - one eye is corrected for distance vision, the other eye for near vision, and the patient's visual system adjusts accordingly. About 80 percent of people who try monovision are satisfied with the results.

Bifocal contact lenses are another option for people who do not want to wear glasses. These lenses come in a variety of designs, one of which may be right for you:

• Alternating bifocal lenses are divided in half, like many types of bifocal glasses. The bottom portion is for near vision, the top portion for far.
• Concentric ring lenses feature one prescription in the center of the lens, and a different prescription around the edges.
• Aspherical multifocal lenses blend near and far prescriptions together, and your visual system must learn to select the prescription needed at the time.

Discuss all of these options with your eye doctor before making a decision.