'Short-arm syndrome' has many middle-agers struggling to see straight

Allyson Smith had perfect vision until she was about 40. That's when she began to find it difficult to read a newspaper or telephone book without backing away or holding it at arm's length. Her eyes were losing the ability to focus on close objects.

Smith, a Mount Pleasant resident, was not being plagued by some new or exotic eye ailment. She had a condition that is visited on just about everyone when they reach their 40s. It's so common that a very pedestrian term is sometimes used to describe it: 'short-arm syndrome'.

Technically, however, the condition is called presbyopia. It's marked by a gradual hardening of the eye lens that makes it difficult or even impossible to see close print. The inability to follow a recipe on a box or the directions for assembling a toy without corrected vision takes on added dimensions.

Like many baby boomers, Smith had never worn eyeglasses and thought she would find wearing them a hassle. And in our youth-oriented culture, many people feel wearing reading glasses marks them as "old." When Smith found that she also had a problem with seeing at a distance, she chose bifocal soft contact lenses to correct her vision. While bifocal contacts are not new, they are becoming a more popular option for coping with challenges posed by presbyopia, and advances are being made all the time.

"It took a little bit of time to adjust at the beginning," says Smith, adding that she is happy with them now, although they may not work for everyone.

Dr. Mason Smith, a Mount Pleasant optometrist and no relation to Allyson, fitted her for her contacts. She is lucky that she does not require correction to see objects at intermediate distances, such as a computer screen.

Getting correction for near, intermediate and distance vision with contacts at one time is more difficult, says the optometrist.

At present, people who don't want to wear glasses have several options:

--Many patients use the monovision system that involves wearing single-vision contact lenses with the near prescription in one eye and the distance prescription in the other, although that can be disconcerting for some.

--Those who want true bifocal lenses can choose between alternating vision and simultaneous vision. Alternating lenses are similar to bifocal glasses in that the pupil alternates between the two powers, as the wearer looks up or down. With simultaneous vision lenses, the eyes look through both distance and near powers at the same time and the brain learns to select the correct power according to what you are trying to see.

--Others with presbyopia may choose laser-assisted surgery. Those who have presbyopia and nearsightedness can have the dominant eye corrected for distance vision and the other one for close vision using LASIK. Or they can have both eyes corrected for distance vision and use glasses for reading.

--In addition, there are surgical corrections for the condition that include one called Array Lens Implant. It involves replacing the natural lens with a multifocal implantable contact lens. The implantable lens features a series of rings with various powers for correcting near, distant and intermediate vision.

Reach Wevonneda Minis at 937-5705 or wminis@postandcourier.com.

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