Time is Fl"eye"ing By

I turned 42 in November. At the time it seemed pretty uneventful. I don't feel 42. I think I'm in good health, have a great family, great friends, and definitely don't act 42. (I probably don't act 24....not kidding...you can ask my staff!) But patients have reminded me that there is a steep slope between 40 and 50, so I better prepare for it. And I do notice, especially when I look at my kids,  that time is flying by much faster as I get older. I had one of my patients equate it to a drive down the highway. "When you are traveling 10 or 20 miles per hour, the telephone poles are passed pretty slowly," he said, "but when you are traveling at 50 or 60 miles per hour, those poles go by quickly!" 

I guess what's triggered my thoughts on the subject is the fact that I am beginning to see a lot of my friends coming into the office in need of reading glasses or the dreaded BIFOCALS! Half of you know and the other half of you will know about BIFOCALS when you get older. The inability to see anything close to you is caused by the loss of elasticity of the natural lens inside your eye that allows you to focus up close. It basically stops bending... like a lot of other body parts, but we won't go there! Once that lens stops bending, your freedom to read without help is over. I happens really slowly, but when you're there like me, it doesn't seem slow! I would be a rich man if I could figure out the magic pill that keeps this from happening, but until then, I have to make my living helping those of us that have been over taken by age. Thank goodness for newer technology that allows us to hide our age. Like Progressive Addition Lenses (or PALs), those bifocals that don't have the line in them. Interesting note...bifocal lenses with the lines were developed by Benjamin Franklin. Ben must have needed them to sign the Declaration of Independence! We can also hide age by using contact lenses. Monovision correction is achieved by fitting a contact lens for distance in one of your eyes and a contact lens for near in the other eye. It works pretty well and I bet most of you have friends that do this and you don't even know it. Even newer still...the multifocal contact lens that allows you to see far away and up close in BOTH eyes. This technology improves almost every year!

If you need help with your vision now or in the future please call us! We'll be glad to help determine the correction that is best for you.

Alright I've gotta go search the web for Botox or something else that will restore my youth. Enjoy your time driving down life's highway, just make sure you can SEE the speedometer when you get into your 40s!

Dr. M