Soft Contact Lenses (Multifocal)

Monovision vs. Multi-Focals

There comes a stage in life (38 to 45) when all of a sudden you will experience difficulty seeing clearly at reading distance. Your arms will eventually be unable to extend any further away in order to see what you are reading. Or maybe you experience eye strain and eye fatigue while reading for extended periods of time, or even have fluctuating blurry vision. Sound familiar? You have entered into a stage in life called ‘Presbyopia’. Don’t worry, this aging process of the eye happens to everyone! The type of prescription you have may determine the severity or significance of your symptoms, and sometime you will be able to compensate and get by without the need of glasses….for a while anyway. At some point you will need some aid in seeing clearly up close, and if you don’t want to carry reading glasses around then ‘mono-vision’ or ‘multi-focal’ contact lenses might be the solution for you.

Monovision

We don’t use any “specialty” lens when we fit you with ‘mono-vision’ lenses. We simply use regular lenses and adjust the prescription so you can see up close, and still see far away as well. We accomplish this by keeping your dominant eye (don’t worry, we will determine eye dominance during the exam) fully corrected and clear for your distance vision, and then under-correct (adjust) the prescription for your non-dominant eye so you can see up close. This set-up works for most people, but not all. It requires some time for your brain to adjust, but with time it proves to be a great way to continue wearing contact lenses without relying on glasses.

Multi-Focals

An alternative option is to wear ‘multi-focal’ contact lenses. We will discuss how these work during your exam. The success rate for clear vision at far and near my vary from person to person….and some may not do well with multi-focal contact lenses. The only way to know is to try on a pair, and see for yourself. Finding the right multi-focal contact lens combination for each individual patient is crucial to having a successful experience, and fortunately for you we have many options to choose from.

Not all available lenses are listed, just the most frequently used.

(* = Silicone Hydrogel material)