Many prescription wearers are surprised as they notice their vision becoming a bit blurry again even after wearing glasses or contacts. But this isn’t uncommon.
In this article, we’ll answer your questions on whether your prescription will change over time and how it might change based on your age.
Table of Contents
Does Your Prescription Get Worse Over Time?
Starting off with the simplest question – does your prescription get worse over time?
Yes, it is common for your prescription to change and get worse as you age. But there’s a variety of reasons behind this.
First, it’s important to understand how our eyes work to understand how we can help prevent them from getting worse.
How your eyes work – Explained
Our most essential sense organ, the eye, is as complicated as it is sensitive.
The eye is made up of four major components that work together to function:
1. Cornea – Placed at the front of the eye and, like a camera lens, the cornea and lens help focus light straight onto the retina.
2. Retina – Also known as the retinal pigment epithelium, is a layer of cells with photoreceptors located in the back of the eye that detects light and color before turning them into electrical signals.
3. Optic Nerve – This is the nerve that sends electrical impulses to the brain, where they are interpreted.
4. Lens – The lens works by uniformly refracting light and focusing it on the retina, allowing you to clearly see objects. The lens may reshape and modify its power to bring objects at varying distances into focus, depending on how far or close they are. If the items are far away, the lens will be flattened, and if the items are nearby, the lens will become round.
These 4 components outlined above work together so you can see the world around you.
But then why do they get worse and what can you do about it? Keep reading to find out.
Why do your eyes get worse?
Over time its common for eyes to get worse, but its not just due to age as many people suspect.
The main reasons your eyes get worse are driven by health and genetic disorders plus your overall lifestyle.
We’ll cover the most common disorders that affect your eyes. Plus 5 lifestyle tips to help prevent your eyes from getting worse!
Genetic Disorders
A variety of genetic disorders impair our vision and can significantly impact how we see the world around us.
This encompasses anything from minor eye disorders including chronic dry eyes, vitreous clouding, squinting, cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration to serious eye illnesses like glaucoma and glaucoma.
We will discuss each of these in more detail below.
Cataract
Cataracts form gradually over time and often go unnoticed since vision deteriorates slowly. Cataracts are not unpleasant, but they do have an impact on your eyes in a variety of ways.
Sometimes one eye is damaged more than the other, but most of the time both eyes are affected.
The most common signs of Cataracts include:
- Blurred or foggy vision, first from afar, then at close range
- Fading colors
- A halo or shine effect, when looking at lights, as well as light aversion despite the fact that more light is required to read.
- Frequent adjustments to your prescription spectacle lenses /contact lenses
- Difficulty seeing at night and in the evenings
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or macular degeneration is an age-related eye condition.
Macular degeneration affects 30% of adults over the age of 75.
This disease impairs central visual acuity. Visual acuity is required to see objects clearly, read, and discern colors.
The macula (yellow area) of the eye is also affected by the condition. That location is at the rear of the eye, in the center of the retina.
AMD can grow slowly and silently at times, but it can also decrease visual acuity in a matter of weeks or months.
The disorder is the primary cause of vision loss in most individuals over the age of 60 and is more common in women.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a set of eye conditions that ultimately damage the optic nerve, resulting in the gradual deterioration of your vision.
With glaucoma, the pressure within your eye typically becomes unusually high. But in some cases, the pressure can actually be normal. This condition is known as ‘normal pressure glaucoma.’
Glaucoma is quite common, affecting around 2 out of every 100 adults over the age of 45. Typically Glaucoma is caused either by genetics or a trauma/previous infection or issue with your eyes.
Typically to treat Glaucoma, your doctor will focus on lowering the ocular pressure. This applies even in some normal pressure Glaucoma cases.
Presbyopia
If you are above the age of 40, you start finding that, to properly read a menu or a newspaper, you need to hold things farther away. This is usually due to presbyopia.
Presbyopia is an eye condition that affects mostly individuals between the ages of 40 and 45. During these years it’s usually first noticed while reading where books or newspapers get blurry when brought closer to your eyes.
It is common and, thankfully, easily remedied by reading glasses or contacts with bifocal or progressive lenses.
Although with Presbyopia, it’s not uncommon for your prescription to continue to change until you’re 60-65 years old when it typically begins to steady.
How to stop your eyes from getting worse
Now that you’ve read all about the various conditions that can affect your eyes, lets focus on how you can stop them. There’s a number of easy steps you can take to prevent your prescription from getting worse.
We’ve listed our top 5 tips below.
1. Eat a Healthy Well Balanced Diet
Eating a healthy diet high in vitamin A, C and E, as well as zinc, are important for keeping your vision strong. Specifically, these vitamins help to deter macular degeneration.
Foods that can help you keep a healthy diet includ:
- Eggs
- Carrots
- Strawberries
- Avocados
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Whole-grain foods
2. Manage Chronic Conditions and Stay Fit
Chronic and genetic conditions such as Diabetes, high blood pressure and cataracts can all affect your eyes. That’s why it’s important to keep a close eye on any conditions you may have, and be sure to take your prescribed medications.
Living a healthy, balanced lifestyle complete with exercise and activity also helps to keep these conditions at bay.
3. Protect Your Eyes
Avoiding trauma and injury to your eyes is crucial to maintaining your vision. And this starts with wearing protective eyewear during sports and hazardous activities.
This also includes wearing sunglasses that protect against UVA, UVB, and UVC rays, which are harmful to your eyes long term.
You can read more about protecting your eyes with polarized lenses in our complete guide.
4. Don’t Smoke
Everyone knows smoking is bad for your heart and lungs, but you can also add your eyes to that list.
Smoking drastically increases the risk of developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.
Luckily, if you currently smoke, studies have shown that your body will start to recover within the first hours of quitting.
5. Ask your Family
Understanding your family history of eye conditions and disorders is key to managing your health and long-term vision. This goes hand-in-hand with living a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle.
Common genetic and hereditary conditions include:
Hereditary conditions include:
- Retinal degeneration
- Age-related macular degeneration
- Glaucoma
Read more in our guide to the Best Oakley Eyeglasses including what to look for when buying prescription glasses. And exactly how much prescription sunglasses cost!
(Please note that the material in this article should not be substituted for professional counsel from a doctor. If you have concerns about your vision, please see a competent ophthalmologist and follow their advice.)
