New Help for That Bane of Middle Age: Blurry Close-Up Vision

In this photo taken Feb. 1, 2017, Dr. Mark Whitten performs a short eye surgery procedure on patient Christianne Krupinsky in Washington, to insert a Raindrop inlay, a disc implanted in the cornea to reshape it for better close-up focus. This new kind of eye implant corrects presbyopia, the need for reading glasses that eventually hits all of us, usually starting in the 40s. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Squinting while texting? Always losing your reading glasses? An eye implant that takes about 10 minutes to put in place is the newest in a list of surgical repairs for that bane of middle age—blurry, close-up vision. So who’s a good candidate to toss their specs?

“It’s not bringing anybody back to being 20 again,” said Dr. Shilpa Rose, a Washington ophthalmologist who tests whether patients’ eyes are healthy enough to qualify. “But it decreases the need to rush to get that pair of reading glasses every time you want to send a text or read an email.”

Nearly everybody will experience presbyopia, a form of farsightedness, at some point, usually starting in their mid-40s. At first, you may notice yourself holding restaurant menus at arm’s length. Eventually, even in good light, reading becomes a blur.

The Raindrop is a gel-like device that looks like a miniature contact lens and is smaller than the eye of a needle.