Simple Ways To Read Better Without Glasses

Sometimes there is a range of solutions to a problem. And this applies to correcting presbyopia or the loss of reading vision that happens to everyone at some point in their life. Ophthalmologists and optometrists have devised many different ways to provide reading vision. There are different types of glasses and different types of surgeries. As the near vision becomes worse and worse, people turn to reading glasses and progressive glasses to sharpen up their newspapers and books.

But presbyopia exists on a spectrum. It starts slowly where you may just need to push your arms out a little bit further in order to read without glasses. Then over years progresses to the inability to see anything at all up close or even on the computer.

In mild stages of presbyopia, surgery or glasses may be overkill for what you need. Sometimes a few tweaks to your environment can allow you to read up close without needing to resort to reading glasses.

Reading On Devices

Instead of newspapers and books, people are using cell phones, tablets and electronic or e-readers. This has actually made it a little easier to deal with presbyopia. The cool part about these electronic devices is that you can actually change the size of the font. No longer are you limited by just what the printing press decided was a good font size.

Want to read without glasses? It's very simple - just increase the font size a little bit.

But it doesn’t stop there! Not only can you increase the font on electronic devices, but these same magical devices are backlit. This enables the cool ability to read in dark rooms or other dimly lit environments where other reading just wouldn’t be possible (even with glasses).

No it doesn’t fix presbyopia but this cool feature of technology has made presbyopia just a little bit more tolerable. So embrace these devices and their ability to keep you out of reading glasses.

Turn On More Lights

But there is another way to see more up close without glasses. Just add more light.

_{Extra light can help you read without glasses; Image by New York, The Duffner and Kimberly Company, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons}

The brain likes to see contrast. The more contrast, the easier it is to determine what you are looking at. There is a reason computer screens have white backgrounds and black text (or black backgrounds with white text during night mode). It’s just much easier than trying to see yellow text on a white background.

Shining a light on a sheet of paper or a book does the exact same thing. It makes the paper contrast more with the text on the paper. This unlocks the ability to read easier and even perhaps slightly smaller print. For those just on the cusp of presbyopia, this may be all that’s needed. So break out that lamp; Your eyes may thank you!

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