If you’re at the age where you need reading glasses to see your phone or read a newspaper, menu, or computer screen, The Eye Clinic now has a better option: the new Raindrop Near Vision Inlay.

The Raindrop Inlay is safe way to treat presbyopia, or age-related near vision loss. Presbyopia is a condition that causes your eye to lose the ability to change focus from distant to near objects. It is a natural part of aging that most people begin to experience after age 40 as the lens of the eye loses its natural elasticity.

Raindrop is the world’s first inlay to change the shape of the cornea (the clear, front part of the eye) to improve near vision. Raindrop is incredibly small – about the size of a pinhead and less than half the thickness of a human hair – and is bioengineered to mimic the natural cornea. After the outpatient procedure, patients go back to most of their daily activities the next day.

The Raindrop Near Vision Inlay was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last summer, and was available in other countries for several years prior to approval in the U.S. In the FDA clinical study, within one week after the procedure, patients, on average, gained 5 lines of near vision on an eye chart without the need for reading glasses. Their vision continued to improve over the next several weeks and months.

“We’ve been following this remarkable Raindrop technology for some time, and I think it is a very effective solution designed for people who want to reduce or eliminate their reading glasses,” said Dr. Charles Thompson, board certified ophthalmologist with The Eye Clinic. “If you’re frustrated with the inability to see close-up, there’s nothing to lose except your reading glasses.”

Dr. Thompson explains that Raindrop is made of a soft, biocompatible material similar to a soft contact lens, with properties and water content similar to that of the cornea. “It gently changes the shape the cornea to improve near vision,” says Dr. Thompson.

“Most of our patients reaching the age at which reading glasses become a necessity, are busy, active people who don’t want to constantly reach for – or look for – their reading glasses,” says Dr. Thompson. “Raindrop is a great answer. We are excited to offer this new option to our patients.”

About Raindrop Near Vision Inlay:

• Transparent, so no one will realize it is in your eye
• Well-suited for dim light situations
• Approximately 80 percent water – it actually resembles a tiny water droplet
• Bioengineered to facilitate the transport of nutrients and fluid to the eye
• Miscroscopic: a fraction of the thickness of a piece of paper

For more information or to schedule an appointment to see if the Raindrop Inlay is an option for you, call The Eye Clinic at (337) 478-3810.