It is an unfortunate fact that most people will experience some vision related problem in their lifetime. Thankfully, while glasses (or magnification devices) have been around for a thousand years, we know have the very convenient option of choosing contact lenses for daily use.
When it comes to choosing the right contact lenses, many choices are readily available, including lenses that change your eye color or lenses for people with astigmatism. There are now even lenses for users that require bi-focal or multi-focal glasses.
Those needing bifocals experience an eye condition known as “presbyopia,” meaning the eye becomes less elastic, causing blurry vision when looking at things up close.
Bifocal lenses were originally the only option for presbyopia sufferers, working much like bi-focal glasses. Built with two separate prescriptions in the lense, bi-focal lenses allow you to both see things up close or view things far away. This is great for choosing between reading and driving, but doesn’t always provide the best solution for those living with advanced stages of presbyopia or who have different vision needs for various distances.
The answer to this problem was the multifocal lense. It is exactly what it sounds like; it is a contact lense with multiple levels of focus. These are generally a lot easier to get used to than bifocals and in fact, they function more like the biological eye.
When looking for multifocal lenses there are three basic types that you will want to keep an eye out for. They are:
Concentric: This is the design that you will find for sale most often and the preferred type of most people. This basically entails that the near lense is in the center and the far ones are on the outside. This can be reversed if you so desire, but that is generally the way that it is set up.
Altering: This is just like a bifocal design and it is great for those who don’t necessarily require a strong prescription in order to live their day-to-day lives. These are for those who only need to read closely.
Simultaneous: This is an interesting design because both the near and far prescription is placed at the center of the lense. The brain will be allowed to select how it wants to see, or how it needs to see at that particular time. Multi-focal lenses come in either soft or RPG lenses, which are more rigid, but not as hard as the old-school contact lenses of yesteryear. Many people prefer RPG contacts as they can provider a clear, sharper vision.
These multi-focal contact lenses are a great improvement over the standard bifocal choices and will definitely let more people experience life in the way that others do. Naturally, this will never be a substitute for perfect vision but it is a step in the right direction. If you find that you are having vision trouble, or are just not satisfied with your plain bifocal contacts, then you should definitely look into multifocal contacts. Consult your eye doctor for more information.