Heading into your 40s often brings new changes to your vision. Even if you’ve never needed glasses before, you may notice that your eyes don’t quite work the way they used to — menus look blurrier in dim light, screens feel harder to focus on, and your eyes tire more easily.
These changes are a normal part of ageing, but that doesn’t mean you need to put up with them. With the right eye care, you can continue to enjoy clear, comfortable vision and protect your long-term eye health.
Presbyopia: Why Reading Gets Harder
Gradually as the years progress, the lens inside your eye naturally becomes less flexible. This reduces your ability to focus up close, a condition called presbyopia. It isn’t an eye disease — it’s simply a natural change that happens to everyone, even people with perfect distance vision.
Signs of Presbyopia
- Needing to hold your phone, book, or menu further away
- Finding small print harder to read
- Eye strain or headaches when doing close work
- Needing brighter light to read comfortably
Options for Clearer, more Comfortable near vision
- Reading Glasses – an easy first step for many people. These can range from magnifying glasses to prescription glasses. Prescription glasses can have visual benefits due to a higher degree of customisation, balancing out differences between the eyes, correction of astigmatism, and as the lens quality is higher.
- Occupational Glasses – A really great pair of near glasses. Compared to reading glasses, occupational lens designs give a greater range of near and intermediate focus - so computers, talking to people and presentations are clearer.
- Multifocal (Progressive) Glasses – lenses that correct both near and distance vision seamlessly.
- Contact Lenses – YES!!! We're big fans of contact lenses to give options around how you correct your presbyopia. Modern multifocal lenses, or monovision, designs give freedom from glasses, with excellent results for many patients.
-
Custom Contact Lenses – at Illume Eye Care, we offer advanced designs (including scleral and specialty multifocals) for sharper vision across all distances.
Dry Eye: Why Eyes Feel Less Comfortable
Alongside presbyopia, dry eye disease becomes more common as we get older. Hormonal changes, environmental stressors, diet and more time spent on digital devices all affect the quality and quantity of your tears.
Common symptoms include
- Grittiness, burning, or stinging sensations
- Eyes that water excessively (a sign of poor-quality tears)
- Fluctuating or blurred vision
- Contact lenses feeling less comfortable than before
How to manage Dry Eye
- Daily use of preservative-free lubricating drops
- Warm compresses or eyelid masks to improve the natural oil flow in your tears
- A healthy diet rich in omega-3s to support tear quality
- Switch to eye friendly cosmetics
If symptoms persist, advanced in-clinic treatments such as LipiFlow, Intense Pulsed Light Therapy, Low-Level Light Therapy, or ZEST lid cleansing can restore comfort and protect long-term eye health.
For contact lens wearers, newer materials designed to lock in moisture or specialty lenses like scleral contact lenses can make a huge difference.
Eye Health Monitoring: Why Check-ups Matter More
After 40, regular eye exams are about more than just updating your glasses prescription. Certain eye conditions become more likely with age — and often develop silently without noticeable symptoms.
Conditions we check for include
- Glaucoma – gradual damage to the optic nerve, which can cause vision loss if undetected
- Cataracts – clouding of the eye’s natural lens, leading to blur and glare
- Macular degeneration – changes at the back of the eye affecting detailed vision
- Diabetic eye disease – for people living with diabetes, regular checks are essential
At Illume Eye Care, our comprehensive assessments include advanced retinal imaging with both OCT scans and wide field retinal photography, tear film analysis, and tailored monitoring plans — giving you confidence that your eyes are protected.
Protecting Your Vision for the Future
Looking after your eyes in your 40s and beyond is a mix of prevention, treatment, and healthy habits. Simple steps can help keep your eyes brighter for longer:
- Eat a balanced diet with plenty of antioxidants and omega-3s (think salmon, walnuts, leafy greens)
- Try and quit or reduce smoking and vaping
- Wear sunglasses with 100% UV protection
- Stay hydrated and prioritise quality sleep
- Take regular breaks from digital devices (the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds)
- Keep up with routine eye exams — even if you feel your vision hasn’t changed
At Illume Eye Care, we specialise in advanced clinical optometry that helps you adapt to vision changes after 40. We can give you unbiased advice about your vision options and are experts with contact lenses, dry eye management, and monitoring for age-related conditions, we’ll help keep your eyes comfortable, clear, and healthy for years to come.