Bifocal Contact Lenses

[SarahW]

Ugh. I finally got to the point where there are no less than 20 pairs of drugstore "readers" scattered all over the house. My distance vision still seems fine, but up close, fugettaboudit. So, off to the eye doc for eval. I have always had an issue with wearing glasses...not because of vanity but because I can't tolerate any weight on the bridge of my nose for an extended period. I can't even wear sunglasses without getting a major headache after a few minutes...but I digress.

I came home from the optometrist with a pair of "monovision" contacts which seemed like a good idea, but I had to surrender after 2 weeks of squinting and blur. What a letdown; it felt like defeat. Yesterday I returned to the doc and was issued a trial pair of bifocal contacts.

Now to the point of this thread: Can anyone wearing bifocal contacts please comment on your experience? I find that I can see pretty well, but almost better without them...especially distance. Reading and computer use is a challenge, with me squinting and trying to get the light just right to see. Last night I had to resort to a pair of my trusty drugstore readers because I could not see well enough to read. ARGH. I am an avid reader; this is frustrating. I want these to be a success because I can't see up close without correction, yet I seriously can't handle glasses on my nose for more than a couple of minutes at a time. :whine:

Someone tell me this will get better.

 

[Moemg]

I have worn glasses or contacts most of my life . I had pretty good luck with the mono vision until I got to a certain age then I tried the bifocal contacts and had no luck with them . I finally gave up and wore glasses which I had to take off and on . I now have mono vision implants and they are great . Have you considered lasik surgery ? A lot of my friends had great results with it .

 

[Bestwifeever]

I have three pairs of gas perm monovision contact lenses (big sale), which I don't have much trouble with. I'm also interested in people's experiences with progressive contacts.

My eyes are pretty close to the same prescription and sometimes I'll wear the "near" contacts in both eyes if I plan to spend a few hours reading. Sometimes I'll wear both "far/distance" lenses for road trips when I'll be driving for long periods, or at the movies (and keep a pair of reading glasses handy).

 

[SarahW]

Have you considered lasik surgery ? A lot of my friends had great results with it .

I'm a coward, Moe!! No eye surgery for me.

I have three pairs of gas perm monovision contact lenses (big sale), which I don't have much trouble with. I'm also interested in people's experiences with progressive contacts.

My eyes are pretty close to the same prescription and sometimes I'll wear the "near" contacts in both eyes if I plan to spend a few hours reading. Sometimes I'll wear both "far/distance" lenses for road trips when I'll be driving for long periods, or at the movies (and keep a pair of reading glasses handy).

I believe my "issues" with monovision are mostly due to the fact that my eyes are drastically different prescriptions. I have one eye that does all the seeing, and one that's mainly a facial decoration apparently. They put the close vision correction in my weaker eye, which didn't work out.

 

[travelover]

I tried the concentric bifocals and monovision (with one contact) and mono vision works best for me. I do have to supplement the monovision with drugstore readers for small print or for fine work in my shop.

 

[Amethyst]

I am moderately nearsighted, with astigmatism in one eye.
For me, the best compromise is rigid gas-permeable progressive contact lenses, plus a mild pair of cheaters for needlework, small fix-it jobs, or reading small print while I'm wearing the contacts. (I still have very good UNCORRECTED close-up vision, which is why I am resisting laser correction).

I have an expensive pair of progressive bifocal spectacles which I consider to be useless for close-up,although they do OK for driving and the computer. I just take them off when I'm doing close work. I don't think the prescription is to blame - I blame the teeny frames that are in style. There's simply not enough room in those teeny lenses for the 3 areas of correction (distance, middle/computer, close up) to be effective. I would like for big eyeglass lenses to come back into style.

Amethyst

 

[W2R]

There's simply not enough room in those teeny lenses for the 3 areas of correction (distance, middle/computer, close up) to be effective. I would like for big eyeglass lenses to come back into style.

That has been my complaint for several years too. But a couple of months ago my supervisor responded to that observation by telling me that bigger glasses were just starting to come back into style. I didn't believe her, but went to check that out and found a pair of big eyeglasses that I like a lot for my trifocals. It might be time to wander through your favorite eyeglass shop and see if they have any new bigger glasses like mine did.

 

[Janet H]

I wear one standard contact although both eyes have similar correction needs. It turns out that with a little practice - your brain learns to select the proper 'signal' for the activity. The one corrected eye allows me to read, the uncorrected eye sees distance.

I recently tried the progressive contacts as well and after spending two days feeling woozy and off balance, gave up and went back to wearing one standard lens. The Optometrists reaction to my experience was to shrug and say 'well, it was worth trying'
I am happy with the current solution and spend half as much on contacts this way

 

[SarahW]

That has been my complaint for several years too. But a couple of months ago my supervisor responded to that observation by telling me that bigger glasses were just starting to come back into style. I didn't believe her, but went to check that out and found a pair of big eyeglasses that I like a lot for my trifocals. It might be time to wander through your favorite eyeglass shop and see if they have any new bigger glasses like mine did.

W2R--wouldn't that make the glasses heavier? I don't know how people ever get used to that weight on the bridge of the nose. It truly makes me cranky.

I wear one standard contact although both eyes have similar correction needs.

That sounds like something I might try, Janet. I still have the "reader" contact, so tomorrow I will just put in the one and see if that is better. (Although I did better with the bifocal lenses today.)

 

[W2R]

W2R--wouldn't that make the glasses heavier? I don't know how people ever get used to that weight on the bridge of the nose. It truly makes me cranky.

I have been wearing glasses for a very long time, and have considerable astigmatism as well as nearsightedness which was worse when I was younger. So, my glasses have always been pretty thick, comparatively speaking. When I first started wearing glasses, they were not only large and thick but had glass lenses instead of the ultra-light plastic that is available today. Glasses today are very light in comparison and I do not notice them.

However I *do* notice anything that detracts from my good vision and that includes glasses that are too small. As Amethyst said,

There's simply not enough room in those teeny lenses for the 3 areas of correction (distance, middle/computer, close up) to be effective.

 

[Janet H]

That sounds like something I might try, Janet. I still have the "reader" contact, so tomorrow I will just put in the one and see if that is better. (Although I did better with the bifocal lenses today.)

Try putting it in your non-dominant eye. Then close the other eye for a minute and try reading. You have to train your brain a little to select the right signal and looking through each eye independently and then switching helps.

And remember - you are taking advice from a musician... it's worth what you paid for it

 

[Amethyst]

SarahW,
We're all different in what we can tolerate, but glasses nowadays are much lighter weight than even a few years ago. I remember loathing the heavy feel of my glasses during my teen years, and the red mark they made on my nose. Modern, thin "featherweight" lenses and titanium frames are a fraction of the weight, though they are also pricey.

Janet,
Something else I just remembered: A slightly too-strong prescription can create headache and nausea. At the doctor's office, I tend to pick slightly too-strong correction, and the doctor reminds me that everything, at my age,* is a compromise: Strong distance correction always means less-than-perfect close-up correction, and vice versa.

Amethyst

*Oh, that hated phrase! I've only been hearing it for a couple years; guess the best I can hope for is to keep hearing it for many years!

 

[W2R]

I just weighed my new, "big" glasses on my kitchen digital food scale, and they weigh 1.0 ounce. I never specify the featherweight lenses (since I don't care), but almost always I am told that they are all that is available in the style I have selected so I get them anyway. Even though they go through the formality of asking whether you want them or not, I think that is about all they sell any more. I don't remember if these glasses have them or not, to be honest. The frames are bronze colored metal but nothing unusual.

The lenses are 2 1/4" wide, and 1 3/4" high. This is big enough to allow plenty of room for the trifocals, in my opinion.

 

[KB]

Before I had lasix surgery, I was wearing bi-focal contacts that worked wonderfully well.
They were the contacts that had rings like a target. One ring was far vision, the next was near vision. When I put them on, I didn't have a moment of blurred vision or all the other symptoms one can get with new glasses or contacts. I was nearsighted and have astigmatism also.

If they still make that type of contact, maybe your eye provider can advise you about them.

 

[W2R]

My eye care provider didn't like the bifocal contacts for me, and wanted to try the method of having different prescriptions in each eye. But first, he wanted me to get used to the contacts and to use reading glasses. I was surprised to find that I was happy with that arrangement because my field of vision was so much larger, and who wants closeup vision in the periphery? Distance vision was fine there.

Want to hear my sob story about contacts? I went to get them again in 2004, having worn them back in the 1980's. I love soft contacts so I adjusted to them well, and was wearing them 16 hours a day with no adverse symptoms that I could tell, and never saw better. But my blankety-blank eye care provider decided that I had "overwearing syndrome" and wouldn't allow me to continue with them!! Plus, he felt that they didn't adequately handle my astigmatism, as I recall. I didn't care!! I NEVER saw better since I was a kid. But oh well. I was so mad at him.

So, much to my GREAT distress he took them away and put me on oxygen permeable hard lenses specifically for astigmatism. I barely got adjusted to them, and never could wear them a very long time. I also had a dreadful time getting them on and off. Finally he said they were fine and my regular visits with him ended. Shortly thereafter I got a bad case of the flu and couldn't wear them at all for two weeks. I couldn't get adjusted to them again. So I wear trifocal glasses. Like many, I refuse to consider lasix surgery and will never consent to it.

 

[SarahW]

I just weighed my new, "big" glasses on my kitchen digital food scale, and they weigh 1.0 ounce. I never specify the featherweight lenses (since I don't care), but almost always I am told that they are all that is available in the style I have selected so I get them anyway.

SarahW,
We're all different in what we can tolerate, but glasses nowadays are much lighter weight than even a few years ago.

You know, when I was at the eye doctor I was struck by the walls of similar-looking eyeglass styles. It seemed like they all looked EXACTLY the same...no matter the brand. I even mentioned it to the eyeglass fitter person while I was wasting time in the waiting area. I can't imagine why they would carry so many "designs" that are the same.

Before I had lasix surgery, I was wearing bi-focal contacts that worked wonderfully well.
They were the contacts that had rings like a target. One ring was far vision, the next was near vision. When I put them on, I didn't have a moment of blurred vision or all the other symptoms one can get with new glasses or contacts. I was nearsighted and have astigmatism also.

If they still make that type of contact, maybe your eye provider can advise you about them.

KB--the "target" contacts are what I'm wearing now. Today they seem MUCH better, so it seems that they will work for me after all. I'm having much better success with these than I did with the monovision.

Isn't it wonderful that we have so many choices?? I was thinking earlier that if I had lived a century ago, I'd likely not have any vision correction available to me at all. (Or at least, very limited eyeglasses.)

 

[Dancer373]

I too can not wear glasses and I am also farsighted. After trying both kinds of contacts ( bifocal and mono) I've found mono to be the best for me. My right eye is my reading eye and left for distance. Originally it was reversed but I had trouble seeing the yellow line in the road with the "reading eye".