Most people don’t know that contact lenses can be bifocal, trifocal, and even progressive. However it’s true: New multifocal contacts are being designed each year for people with presbyopia, a natural condition caused by age, where the eye’s natural lens stiffens and loses the ability to concentrate on close things.
If you’re presbyopic, you’re not alone. Ultimately, nearly everybody is, usually after age 40.
Where people do vary is how they handle it. Some use reading glasses or bifocals. Others select progressive spectacles lenses, which fix near, intermediate, and far vision however without the unpleasant lines of standard bifocals. Still others opt for bifocal contact lenses.
Benefits of Multifocal Contact Lenses
If you are presbyopic, consider this:
1. Reading glasses are bothersome
One of the most common grievances among presbyopes is needing to put on and take off their reading glasses all day. Switching between regular glasses and reading glasses (“readers”) is much more irritating.
Checking out glasses must be carried all over. And they are typically misplaced or forgotten, forcing some people to purchase a number of sets for various areas of their home and office.
2. Readers and bifocals are unattractive
They conceal the eyes from the world and stress age. Even people who are used to wearing spectacles don’t like the apparent lines and sectors of bifocal glasses.
While no-line progressive addition eyeglass lenses look much better, they are still glasses. And lots of people challenge the distorted vision they provide to the left and right– sadly, this distortion is unavoidable in current progressive spectacles lens designs.
Lastly, having to buy one or more pairs of bifocal or progressive sunglasses makes the glasses choice rather pricey.
Why Multifocal Contacts Better Option?
There are several contact lens creates that aid you see both close up and far away, in addition to appropriate astigmatism.
One type has a range viewing area in the majority of the lens and a near watching segment in the middle lower portion. Another has a series of concentric rings, where the visual system continuously adjusts focus for distance and near.
To get started with multifocals, your eye care specialist will determine your near vision acuity then choose a design that works best with your cornea size and shape, tear film, blink pattern and lifestyle. Just like any brand-new multifocal glasses, you’ll also receive quick training on the best method to use the lenses, in addition to a follow-up visit to be sure you’ve adjusted to them.
Monovision Contact Lens
This includes using a contact lens on one eye for distance, and on the other for near. Either soft contacts or GP contacts can be used for monovision.
Although monovision is a popular choice, a significant drawback is that for some people, it compromises depth understanding.
Which Is Better for Multifocal Contacts: Soft or Rigid Materials?
Multifocal contacts exist in both soft and firm materials, but lots of eye care experts agree that firm lenses (GP contacts) supply much better vision due to the fact that they keep their shape well when you blink. This reduces irritating, eye-straining refocusing; it also makes it much easier to adjust to seeing in the near and far zones without a “swimming” sensation. And GP contacts are more stable on the eye, so vision sections remain right where they should.
Another advantage to over-40 people, who are more susceptible than younger people to dry eye syndrome, is that GP contact lenses do not absorb wetness far from your eyes the method soft lenses will.
GPs also withstand gathering little bits of protein and other debris from your tears much better than soft lenses. It’s these deposits that can make soft lenses uneasy and scratchy, specifically for dry-eye sufferers.