50+: Live Better, Longer

Baby Boomers See Better Because of Contact Lens Advances

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"There are a lot of options with contacts," says David Haight, MD, a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the director of refractory surgery at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital in New York City.

Some people may combine bifocal and monovision lenses by wearing a bifocal in one eye and targeting the other eye to be slightly more corrected for reading, he explains.

Emphasizing that ophthalmologists can be creative in selecting lenses for patients, he says that there is "a lot of individual customization that can be done in this field."

As for surgery, there are currently few options for presbyopia, which is sometimes erroneously called age-related farsightedness. "We may have a good surgical solution for presbyopia in the next five years, but right now these options are all investigational," he says.