People with macular degeneration know first hand that one of the consequences of this eye condition is a loss of central vision. Central vision is used for important daily tasks such as reading, working at the computer and driving. Although there are a few promising treatments for wet advanced macular degeneration, anyone experiencing advanced vision loss wants to maximize the vision they still possess. Specialized low vision products, such as bioptic glasses for low vision, can enable those living with low vision to perform daily tasks independently and maintain self-sufficiency.
In order to understand how bioptic glasses for low vision work, a brief explanation of age-related macular degeneration and its associated low vision is needed. The macula is found in the central part of the retina in the eye. When it becomes weakened through a thinning of the macular cells, damaged by the cells wasting away, or when the macula becomes unclear due to excessive blood vessel growth causing bursting and leaking beneath the macula, age-related macular degeneration is often the result. The center of the macula becomes damaged, and vision in the center of the eye lessens and eventually can become entirely lost. Central vision helps us perform the detail-oriented tasks of daily life. Activities such as reading, sewing, knitting and driving become much more difficult and eventually impossible with this vision loss. Peripheral vision remains unaltered by age-related macular degeneration, however. The end of this condition is the ability to see the outline of something, but not details in the center of the object.
Bioptic glasses for low vision due to age-related macular degeneration and other conditions work at bit like bifocals. A bifocal has two different prescriptions within the eyeglass lens. You can adjust to near or far vision depending on if you are looking through the top or the bottom of the eye glass lens. Bioptic glasses for low vision work in a similar manner, but instead of using a magnified eye glass prescription in the eye glass lens, tiny telescopes are used instead. These low vision products improve low vision by allowing the wearer to have access to intense magnification whenever he or she needs it. The wearer will also be able to use a regular prescription for the area of the eye glass lens that is not devoted to the telescope, namely the peripheral vision, so that all areas of the visual field will be improved.