Are Bifocal Contacts For You?
First off, if you’re under the age of 40 you can stop reading now. BiFocals are not for you. starting at age 40, many require assistance in seeing things up close. Yes, that means you.
For everyone else who is wearing reading glasses, bifocals, or just plain struggling to read the newspaper (or this article for that matter), bifocal contact lenses are an exciting option with some new advances, but they definitely aren’t for everyone.
First, but make us play two very important details. Will we discussed bifocal contact lens fittings, I’m not only referring to troop bifocal contact lenses, but also monovision lenses ( one lens for distance only in one lens for near only), in any conceivable combination of bifocal and monovision lenses. So, I’m really only talking about soft contact lenses.
Though not a requirement, these are a few things that may make you a great candidate for bifocal contact lenses: A strong desire to stop wearing glasses, being closer to age 40 than age 60, prior experience with contact lenses, longtime glasses use, a willingness to accept vision that isn’t quite perfect in exchange for adequate vision at all distances, and you must understand that reading glasses may still be required from time to time for small print or in poor lighting conditions.
Signs you might not be the best candidate: very dry eyes, having an eye that doesn’t seem very well even with the best correction, an intense fear of touching your eyes, high amounts of astigmatism, and the need for crystal clear vision.
Here are just a few things to consider before trying on any type of bifocal contact lens. 1) bifocal contact lenses will not provide as clear a vision as bifocal eyeglasses. 2) each person adjust to bifocal contact lenses differently, therefore it may take several fittings with vastly different lens combinations before finding the best option for you.
The reason those two points are true is because bifocal contact lenses do not work in the same way as bifocal glasses. With bifocal glasses both eyes look through the distance portion of the glasses to see far away and both eyes look through the near portion of the glasses to see up close. With glasses, both eyes are always perfectly focused for whatever distance they are viewing. This is not possible with soft contact lenses - you cannot look through just one part of the lens at a time. Therefore, with contact lenses part of your vision is ALWAYS focused at a distance and part of your vision is ALWAYS focused up close. When you are looking at a distance your brain learns to concentrate on the part of your vision that is focused at a distance and block out the part that is focused up close, and vice versa when you look up close. Because part of your vision is always focused at the wrong location bifocal contacts cannot be as perfect as bifocal glasses. And because it is the brain that interprets what we see through bifocal contacts, every person experiences bifocal contacts differently and therefore the same type of fitting does not work for all people.
So what is the biggest factor in deciding whether someone will be successfully fit with bifocal contact lenses? Choosing the right doctor is a major factor. You want a doctor that understands how the different lenses work, a doctor must know what changes to make based upon your input, they must be patient, and should set the right expectations through educating you. While this can be a challenge, it’s not impossible with the right doctor.
Contact a local eye doctor for your specific requirements with bifocal contact lenses and to see if bifocal contact lenses are right for you.
