Shelli Cabana's reading ease took a serious hit in her forties. "I noticed I couldn't read the menus in the, in the dimly lit restaurants, and, and, I couldn't read my books like I liked to. The computer was getting a little blurry," Shelli.
Shelli's reading vision decline is a natural part of aging, caused by a condition called presbyopia. "As you get older, the lens inside the eye becomes harder. So, rather than having the ability to focus, it becomes stiffer and stiffer," says Dr. Peter Hersh, a corneal surgeon.
The donut-shaped inlay is thinner than a human hair. "It has a brown periphery and a central hole. And much like a camera when you make the shutter stop smaller, it screens out unfocused rays to give you better depth of focus," says Peter Hersh, M.D.
During a 30-minute procedure, the biocompatible implant is placed in the cornea of one eye. "This intercepts the incoming rays of light, increases the depth of focus and better focuses reading light on the retina, which is the back part of the eye," says Dr. Hersch. Putting the inlay in one eye improves reading vision, while preserving distance vision.
They're results that Shelli relishes. "Where's this pair of glasses? Where's that pair of glasses? I don't have that anymore," says Shelli. It allows her to focus on reading.
If you don't like the inlay, it's completely removable. For more information on clinical studies being done, visit the Acufocus website.
