Bifocal contacts - YouLookFab Forum

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Bifocal contacts

Gigi

Veteran

I've worn glasses for years but would like to switch up my look and change to contacts. I did try contacts for distance vision briefly a few years ago, and to my dismay, I found that I could no longer read small type close up but would have to use reading glasses. I'm not keen on having to switch out to reading glasses for various tasks during the day. I know that bifocal contacts are supposed to be available, but my eye doctor seemed to think that contacts for distance plus reading glasses would be the best solution. She didn't think that the bifocal contacts were very good. Any advice?

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15 replies

Latest reply was from Gigi

rachylou

Veteran

I feel like bifocal contacts means one eye is for distance and the other for reading ... and I tried that for a different reason, and it was nauseating...

Adelfa

Veteran

I have tried it all and now wear glasses with progressive lenses.

Rachy, there actually are multifocal lenses. I wore them for a few years but didn't see well with them at all. I also tried monovision, which is what you're describing. I got tired of people asking me why I was reading with one eye. The vision was better than with multifocal lenses, but still not great.

Gigi, I agree with your eye doctor. Your best non-spec solution is distance contacts with readers. This will let you see the best. Unless you go back to glasses

Anonymous

I have a bifocal-monovision setup: one eye is a bifocal lens, one is an astigmatic lens. It has worked well for me over the past 6 or so years, but it's not perfect. Still, it lets me go about my day-to-day life: see the computer screen or read papers at work, read the tiny type on an aspirin bottle at the chemists, etc. Since my specs aren't ideal either, I wear contacts most of the time.

Some larger optometry practices can usually provide free samples of lenses--if yours does, maybe ask for a free trial (for daily disposables, ask for 2 weeks' worth). Smaller ophthalmology practices might not be set up for this, though.

Colette

Veteran

I agree with your doctor, the best solution is distance vision contacts and readers. I've been wearing multi focal lenses for several years but never really could see very well with them, near or far. But I did it because when I was out I didn't want to wear reading glasses. In some situations I still need readers though. I'm now going back to single vision for distance and will add reading glasses. I'm also considering ditching my contacts altogether and just wearing glasses but I'm still on the fence with that.

My optometrist was great about giving me samples to try and it took about four or five rounds of samples to get me to OK vision with multi focal lenses. My cousin and Aunt both tried them and gave up on them right away.

Anonymous

I tried the multifocal several times, but I was frustrated since my sight is much much clearer with progressive eyeglass lenses. So I just wear my glasses. DH on the other hand after trying the multifocal decided to go with contacts for distance and reading glasses when needed.

I wanted to add that I am 60 and only wear my glasses when going out, driving, watching tv. I have found that I have no problems reading or working on the computer without my glasses. I do need a magnifying glass though when I have to read those teeny tiny labels on bottles at times.

Sara L.

Veteran

I have monovision contacts right now - one for reading, one for distance. I've been wearing them for about 6 weeks and don't have any problems. It took a few days to get used to it but now I don't even notice them.

I don't actually need reading glasses yet but I'm having Lasik surgery next week (I'm just so tired of contacts and glasses) and due to my age (42) it was suggested I have the surgery as monovision. The reason being that I'm close to the age when most people start to need reading glasses. To avoid having to wear reading glasses in the near future, the surgeon suggested monovision. I talked to my normal eye doctor about it (I wanted an unbiased opinion) and she agreed with his strategy and fitted me for contacts so I could make sure I liked the monovision before the surgery.

Anonymous

I've used monovision contacts for umpteen years with no problem. I took to them right away, and they've never given me any problems.

Marilyn

Veteran

I've been wearing multi-focal contacts for a year now. Love them. Are they perfect....no. It's a compromise. To improve close up you may have to give up a bit of distance. Of course you can still see into the distance but maybe not quite as far. But, I can now use the computer, read a menu, read a book, read labels on things, etc. without having to pull out my readers. Sometimes for very fine detail, like sewing, I use readers or take them out. My optometrist said he has surgeons wearing them and they only sometimes need readers for very fine detail during surgery.

First off, you need an optometrist who is skilled at fitting them and getting them right. My optometrist said some don't even do it because there's a science to it. There is a lot of tweaking and fiddling to get them right.

Expect to try several pair during the trial. You wear them for a week to ten days then go back to consult about what needs tweaking. Also try different brands. I tried several rounds of Cooper Vision but something was off. A switch to Bauch and Lomb Pure Vision 2 was what worked. He said it's like cars.....one brand works for one person but not the next.

Bottom line....I would not go back to regular contacts and readers. And I have no desire to wear glasses full time. So, it's multi-focals for me.

I tried monovision contacts first...one for up close, one for distance. Did not work for me. I could not get used to the blur in one eye.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

On my phone and have lots to say so will respond later from computer.

RobinF

Veteran

I also use monovision contacs (one for distance, one for reading) and I love it. I agree it seemed weird for a little while, like when you get new glasses, but now I can only tell which is which if I close one eye. I do sometimes need reading glasses especially in poor lighting or when reading very small print but these work great for most things.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

My thought is that this is highly individual. It depends on so many factors:

What is your prescription, how complicated, what are the various factors going on?

How motivated are you?

Will you go crazy with any softening of vision at any distance or are you the kind of person who can accept less than perfect (as long as you can safely and comfortably perform the tasks you want to do regularly?)

What are those tasks, anyway? Are you on the computer most of the day, driving at night, reading lots of fine print, etc.

Can you wear glasses comfortably or not?

I wore multifocal contacts for a number of years. I agree with Marilyn; you need a good optometrist with experience, and you need patience. I also agree with those who said you should try samples for a while until you figure out what works best for you.

In my own case, I wasn't perfectly corrected with multifocals because my extreme nearsightedness combined with increasing farsightedness plus astigmatism. I supplemented with readers, and I also wore progressive glasses quite a lot. The glasses did a better (but not perfect) job of correcting my vision but were not comfortable for all day wear due to their weight (even with extra thin lenses) and with a prescription as high as mine was the loss of peripheral vision is considerable.

In the end, I had surgery -- not Lasik, but clear lens extraction. I had multifocal lenses implanted -- again, they are not perfect but they are pretty good. Had I been going from 20/20 vision to this, it would feel unacceptable. Going from where I was, this is amazing -- I don't have to put in contacts or glasses first thing in the morning and I only need glasses in dim light at medium range (not for distance or for close work.)

In other words -- your mileage may vary.

Eliza

Veteran

I wear two different (and quite high powered) contact lens; one eye does reading tasks/close work and the other does distance. I have done this for a long time and it wasn't hard to adjust initially. My glasses are progressive lenses.

I see an excellent optometrist who is now based at a school of optometry. She loves contact lens challenges and keeps super current about what is available. Complicated scripts outstripped my local optometrist's capabilities more than a decade ago. I am not a surgical candidate at this point. Ask around for who is good with contacts. Likely a couple of names will keep surfacing. It makes a huge difference.

Chris987

Veteran

Lots of good suggestions here, you do need to work with a good optometrist or ophthalmologist to figure out what will work for you, and there may be some trial and error.

I wore monovision contacts for many years (different prescription in each eye, one for close, one for far) and it worked well, but not everyone's brains can tolerate it. I think bifocal contact lenses are roughly equivalent to bifocal glasses lenses.

I wore contact lenses for most of my adult life, switching to monovision as I got more nearsighted. I was so horribly nearsighted that the contacts always worked better than glasses although I always had to have backup glasses with me in case of emergencies. I go to a large eye practice that has multiple ophthalmologists with advanced training as well as optometrists who fit contact lenses...like Eliza I agree that it's important to see real experts when it comes to your eyes.

I needed cataract surgery last year on both eyes so now I have implanted lenses that are the equivalent of the monovision lenses I wore, and it works really well. I do not need glasses or contacts for the first time since I was 6, except for needing reading glasses. Suz I think my experiences have some similarity with yours.

Gigi, work with your eye doctor to find a solution that works for you, we can advise you on how to think about it but everyone is different.

deb

Veteran

I wore the multifocal contacts with the reading part in the center then gradually worked out to my distance prescription. Mine also had astigmatism correction and I loved them. They worked so well with the in between areas like seeing the computer screen. I had to switch to glasses because my new meds dried my eyes out. My doc said that not everybody's brain adjusts to this type but I put them in at his office, drove home and had no issues after. The also have weighted version with distance on the top and reading on the bottom much like glasses. I do not know how those are.

Gigi

Veteran

I am so grateful for this forum, that I can have access to people's experiences with these kinds of decisions! It's always nice to be prepared beforehand.

One thing that your reponses brought to mind was that I have mild astigmatism, which I had forgotten about. Back when I wore contacts in college, I didn't need any astigmatism correction, and I'm not sure that they had that ability back then anyway. But a few years ago, my doctor tried to take out the astigmatism correction from my glasses, and it gave me a headache. So I am glad to know that astigmatism correction can be obtained via contacts now.

I had a brain injury several years ago, and since then, I have been more prone to headaches. It will be interesting to see if I can tolerate the monovision solution--that may be too much for my brain.

My optomestrist's practice is not a particularly small operation (I live in a large metro area), but based on what I am reading above, if they give up on me after just a few tries of different contacts, it may be worth seeking out someone else. I didn't realize how much of an art this is. I do remember from my experiences with contacts in college that brands do make a difference. Back then, ended up switching to a slightly heavier contact because the ones I had been wearing were making my eyeball lose its shape or something, and the heavier contact kept my eyeball's shape better and thus gave me better vision.

I hope to make an appointment soon at my eye doctor's for a contact fitting. Several months ago, I had mentioned to the optician on staff there that my doctor had said that she wasn't that impressed with the bifocal contacts, but the optician seemed to think differently. So he may have been aware of other options that my doctor hasn't had much experience with.

Thank you, everyone, for your input! I feel much better trying out the contacts now, and I will know that if they don't work out, I won't be the only one who has had that experience. I'm just ready for a change--I've been wearing glasses for a long time.