Vuity Eye Drops: Do the Eye Drops Actually Work?

In the past few weeks, you may have seen a commercial or an add for a new eye drop targeted to improve near vision in presbyopes called Vuity.

But what is Vuity? Does it work? We’re here to answer all of your Vuity questions!

Presbyopia

Presbyopia is the medical term for the condition in which the eyes no longer are able to see at multiple distances. For most individuals, distance vision will remain clear, but near vision will become blurry, causing the need for reading glasses to see up close.

Presbyopia occurs due to lens changes within our eyes. In each of our eyes we have a structure called the crystalline lens. When we are younger, the lens is flexible, allowing it to change powers to give us a range of clear vision from distance to near through the process of accommodation.

With each year of life, we lose a little bit of our accommodative capabilities. This does not typically become noticeable until around the age of 45 for most individuals.

At this point, the lens has lost its ability to flex, and can no longer accommodate to clear images up close. Historically, to combat this problem eye doctors have been able to recommend either reading glasses, bifocals, or multifocal contact lenses.

Fortunately, there is a new option available in the form of an eyedrop–Vuity!

What are Vuity Eye Drops?

Vuity is comprised of 1.25% pilocarpine HCl. Pilocarpine is a drug that has been around for many years as a way to lower eye pressure in glaucoma patients.

Vuity uses a much lower concentration of pilocarpine than the formulation used to treat glaucoma.

Pilocarpine is beneficial for improving near vision in the fact that it constricts the pupil (black part) of the eye, creating a larger depth of focus. This phenomenon is best known as the pinhole effect–smaller apertures create a greater range of clear vision as they let in fewer light rays, which results in less blur.

Vuity is FDA approved for twice-a-day dosing, or every 12 hours.

Vuity is currently not covered by most insurance plans. The out of pocket cost for Vuity is roughly $75.00 for a 1 month supply, and requires a prescription from your eye doctor.

In studies, Vuity drops have been shown to increase a person’s near vision by up to 3 lines, without losing clear distance vision.

To put this into perspective we’ll use a couple example patients–Bob and Brenda.

Bob is an early presbyope at 46 years old who recently started to have a hard time reading things up close. His entering visual acuities were 20/20 at distance and 20/40 at near.

1 hour after instilling Vuity drops to each eye, Bob’s vision remained at 20/20 in the distance and improved to 20/25 at near.

His near vision is not the “perfect” 20/20, but it is still much improved and would allow him to perform most tasks without the need of reading glasses.

Brenda, on the other hand, is a well-established presbyope at 68 years old. She presents with 20/20 distance vision and 20/70 near vision.

1 hour after instilling Vuity drops to each eye, Brenda’s distance vision decreased to 20/25 (still really good), and her near vision improved to 20/40.

While Brenda’s end point in near vision is not as good as Bob’s, it is still a big improvement. 20/40 vision at near would allow her to read newspapers, magazines, menus, labels, and more without the need for reading glasses.

She may still prefer to wear reading glasses when working at near for extended periods of time (reading a book, computer work, etc.), but she could most certainly get by with most tasks without carrying around a pair of reading glasses with her.

However, while Vuity eye drops can be a potential solution for some presbyopes, it is not the preferred method for all. Studies showed that roughly ⅓ of individuals who tried Vuity were happy with their near vision, while others preferred more conventional methods such as reading glasses or multifocal contact lenses.

This could be due to side effects associated with the drops. The most commonly reported side effect of Vuity eye drops is a headache above the brow. Others included decreased night vision, glare, and nausea.

Regardless, Vuity is a potential option for improving near vision. If you are interested, be sure to make an appointment to talk about Vuity more with your eye doctor today!

Our eye doctors at Neal Eye Group in Conshohocken, PA excel in the prescription of contact lenses, glasses and various eye diseases.  Call our optometrists at (610) 828-9701 or schedule an appointment online if you would like to learn more about Vuity eye drops.  Our optometrists provide the highest quality optometry services and eye exams in Conshohocken, Norristown, Plymouth Meeting, Lafayette Hill, and Philadelphia.