Prescription Eyewear for Older Shooters
Shooting Sports USA has published an informative article covering prescription eyewear for shooters. In The Right Rx for Aging Eyes, writer Chris Christian reviews vision issues with Doctor of Optometry Alexis Rodriguez. Christian notes that many shooters have difficulty focusing on their sights as their eyes age. Even if you use scopes more of the time, we recommend you read this article, which explains the physiology (and bio-mechanics) of human vision.
Shooters experience vision issues as they get older, explained Dr. Rodriguez: “Presbyopia is the medical term that describes the natural deterioration of the eyes with age.” As people get older, the ability of the eyes to focus on near objects is diminished, due to the loss of elasticity of the crystalline lens inside the eye and the gradual deterioration of the ciliary muscles that help in bending the lens to focus. Rodriguez says the first symptoms usually occur around age 40, although some will experience them later. This normally starts with blurriness when looking at close objects. From that first point, this natural deterioration will continue to worsen until around the age of 65, where it normally stabilizes, and virtually all elasticity of focus is gone.
To overcome focus problems associated with aging eyes, Dr. Rodriguez often recommends a modified bifocal design for shooters. The lower insert is set to the shooter’s Sight Distance (SD) instead of a standard “reading” distance and the insert lens is moved upwards in the lens to a point in line with the bottom of the pupil. This allows the shooter to maintain a constant head position to access the lower lens and reduces image jump.
The article is written to help shooters and eye doctors find the best solutions for vision problems. We know many shooters, particularly as they hit “middle age” and beyond, experience a variety of vision issues. However, it’s common for shooters to ignore their eye problems, at the same time spending buckets of money on expensive optics. Pay attention to what Dr. Wong writes and you can benefit. Remember that the last element in the sighting system is the human eye — and no scope, no matter how sophisticated, can overcome serious failings in a shooters’ vision that remain uncorrected.
