How I ditched my Reading Glasses!

This blog post was sponsored by Alcon. All opinions are my own.

Nothing conveys “old” like having a pair of reading glasses in every room of your house and a pair of glasses in each handbag you own. I’m at the age where I have noticed over the last several years that it is getting harder and harder to see my smart phone, read a menu at a restaurant or even make out what the recipe is on the back of a soup can. Check out how I am ditching my “readers” for Alcon DAILIES TOTAL1^® Multifocal contact lenses!

I’ve never had a serious vision problem until I hit the age of 45. The exact moment I discovered this issue is branded in my memory. I was trying to read the back of a soup can to see what the directions were for the casserole I was making. Of course I immediately thought that the font size had been reduced to make more room for more instructions. Sadly, I was mistaken. My eyes were having a harder time focusing and reading the recipe. I also noticed that menus were getting harder to read when I would meet a girlfriend for lunch. And if Pete and I went to dinner at a lovely restaurant, I realized I would sometimes need to hold up the candle on our table to read the menu because it was difficult to read the food descriptions due to dim lighting.

Did you know that this is normal? It’s an eye condition called presbyopia that occurs naturally with age and over 100 million Americans live with the condition. Starting around the age of 40, many people start to notice an inability to focus up close. Even nearsighted people will detect blurred vision when wearing their usual eyeglasses or contact lenses. I had an eye exam several years ago and have been solving the problem with readers. In the beginning I could make it with +1.00 D strength but as the years have gone by, I am now up to +2.50 D. Although the ones I am wearing in the top photo are stylish, nothing makes me feel older than having to get out my glasses to use my phone. UGH! I had tried contact lenses that corrected my vision with “monovision,” meaning I was wearing one contact lens that corrects only distance vision in one eye, and another lens that corrects only near vision in the other eye. I wasn’t even aware there was a contact lens available to help me see clearly at all distances.

My dear friend Jennifer C. and I were having lunch and I noticed that she didn’t have to get her readers out to see the menu. Now mind you, we are the same age and have been friends for 25 years. My radar went up immediately and I asked her how she could possibly see the menu without readers. She told me that she had just started using multifocal contact lenses and that I should check it out. Jealous much? I was speed dialing for an appointment!

 I made an appointment with Uptown Vision and saw Dr. Roshie (Dr. Roshie Moshtaghfard). Not only did she give me a full eye exam, she was so thorough that she even took the time to explain eye health and showed me pictures of my optic nerve and much more. Fortunately for me, I have presbyopia and this condition can be easily remedied with contact lenses! She decided on Alcon DAILIES TOTAL1^® Multifocal contact lenses based on my vision test results. These are multifocal contact lenses that help me see up close, far away and in between. They are the first and only water-gradient contact lenses, which means they provide a nice cushion of moisture on your eye that makes them so comfortable, you might forget you’re even wearing them! 

Although I’ve worn contact lenses before, Dr. Roshie gave me a lesson on how to insert them and helped to refine my technique to make sure I was doing it correctly. Dr. Roshie let me know it would take a few days for me to adjust to seeing near and far with both eyes. After I had the contact lenses in for a few minutes, she did a second eye exam to make sure that the contacts were sitting on my eyes correctly. I realized immediately that although it would take some getting used to, my new lenses were going to improve my life. I looked down and was shocked that I could see the text messages on my phone without readers!

After a few days of getting used to my new lenses, I visited Dr. Roshie for another check-up to make sure my eyes were adjusting to the multifocal contact lenses. We had to tweak my prescription to make sure it was perfect. We then popped the new prescription in (I’m a pro at inserting my lenses now) and I was seeing even BETTER after just a few minutes! Now, I don’t have to worry about keeping a pair of readers in every bag in case I meet a friend for an impromptu lunch date! And I’m not that person shining her flashlight on a menu during a romantic candlelit dinner.

Another plus is how easy Alcon DAILIES are to take care of! Having daily disposable contact lenses means that you only wear them for one day and you throw them away as soon as you take them out. I can tell you that this is a game changer for me! They are so comfortable that I can hardly tell I have them in my eyes. There is no cleaning required because you throw them out daily! The entire process makes my life so easy. I love them and wish I would have done this sooner!

xoxo – Tanya

P.S. Now that you can read and see with ease, look at some book selections here.

photo: Audrie Dollins

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References

1. Market Scope. Comprehensive report on the global IOL market, June 2015.