• 114 N State St, Westerville OH 43081          614-882-0851             [email protected]

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  • Accommodation

  • The crystalline lens in the eye actually changes shape to help us focus from distance to near.  This is usually a seamless transition and we don't even realize it is happening.  As the muscles cause the lens to change, the focusing power of the lens actually is adjusted so images can be focused clearly on the retina. 

  • Presbyopia

    Presbyopia commonly begins around age 40.  The muscles that cause the lens to change shape begin to get a little weaker.  They are still able to move and cause accommodation, but not as easily.  This is when people start to have trouble reading up close.  People will need brighter lighting and need to push things away to a further distance to help them see better.  We often hear "My arms aren't long enough" when they come to see us.  This process will continue to happen over the next 2 decades, and eventually your eye will no longer be able to accommodate on its own at all.  This will cause your reading prescription to change and get stronger frequently, every one to two years until it is maxed out.  

  • Accommodative Disorders

    It's a myth that only patients over 40 need reading glasses or bifocals.  In fact, we have many young children, teenagers, and young adults who wear bifocal or progressive lenses.  Although the process is a little different, the ciliary muscles and lens are still affected and produce the same results of near difficulty.  Instead of an aging or degenerative process, the muscles may get in a spasm, or just be weaker.  Often these accommodative problems may be transient in younger patients, and something they 'outgrow' with treatment. Accommodative problems are also side effects of many medications.  

    Accommodative disorders can result in unpleasant symptoms. 

    • Blurred Near Vision
    • Headaches
    • Eyestrain
    • Eye fatigue
    • Blurry vision after reading for a period of time
    • Dry Eyes from over-compensating to see clearly and not blinking as often
    • Trouble switching from distance to near and back to distance viewing
    • Double vision
    • Motion sickness
    • Poor grades in school 
    • Loss of interest in reading or other near tasks

    There are various other types of accommodative disorders.  These can be treated through glasses, contacts, or vision therapy exercises. 

    A spasm of accommodation is a condition in which the ciliary muscle gets in a spasm, remaining in a constant state of contraction, and cannot relax when looking far away. 

    Accommodative infacility is the inability to change the accommodation process of the eye with enough speed and accuracy to achieve normal function. In other words, the time it takes to move from distance to near viewing is slower. 

    Accommodative insufficiency involves the inability of the eye to focus properly on an object. 

     

  • Treatments

    There are many ways to provide relief for presbyopia or other accommodative disorders.  Depending on your prescription and ocular demands, we can choose the path that's right for you. 

    1. Single Vision Reading Glasses
    2. Bifocals or Trifocals
    3. Progressive Lenses
    4. Multifocal or Monovision Contact Lenses
    5. Surgical Options