Are plus lenses more recommended for patients with accommodative spasm or accommodative excess?

• A. Accommodative spasm
• B. Accommodative excess
• C. Both
• D. Neither

Answer: (A)

Accommodative spasm involves an overactive focusing system that remains contracted even when looking at distant targets. The way to help is to reduce the amount of accommodation the eye has to do. Plus lenses do exactly that: they lower the accommodative demand for a given task, allowing the ciliary muscle to relax and easing symptoms like blur at distance and eyestrain. This is why plus lenses are more recommended for accommodative spasm.

In accommodative excess, the issue is an overly strong accommodative response, and plus lenses don’t address that tendency as effectively, so they’re not the primary choice there.