Bifocal Contact Lenses?

[travelover]

I didn't see a thread on this when I searched, so..

Has anyone had good luck with bifocal contact lenses? I currently am doing the mono-lens thing with a single disposable lens and it has worked very well for 20 years, but now I find myself reaching for the reading glasses more and more often.

I'm curious about issues with orientation stability (has to be on the bottom, right?), costs and comfort. Thanks in advance.

 

[donheff]

Sounds like you are using the mono lens for distance. Why don't you put a reading lens in the other eye? My wife does that and it works great.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

mom used bifocal contacts and loved them. before contacts i tried graduated lenses but it was just a waste of good money as i couldn't get used to them so wound up taking my glasses off to read anyway.

i tried contacts with one eye for close up and one for distance and hated that too. i was convinced that it was making my subconscious dizzy. on a more practical level, i couldn't tell the difference between a cop car and a taxi cab, something ya kind of need to do when you drive like me.

i prefer long distance contacts with reading glasses. my contacts as set up now are perfectly good for long distance and for computer distance and even some menus if the restaurant isn't too dark.

i keep a set of cheap reading glasses in all the important areas. and when i want to do a lot of reading i just take my contacts out for the day.

 

[nwsteve]

D
Both my wife and I have used bifocal lenses for several years with no problem. She tried mono and could never get use to it.
Main issue is to have someone who is skilled in fitting as the lenses need to "ride" at the correct place on your eye so you are using the reading component when you your eyes are "down" and then the lens slides so you can use the usual distance view. DW original optician could not get it right where the guy I used (shared practice) got it right from the get-go. He redid hers and she has no problems since
Nwsteve

 

[Moemg]

I tried bifocal contacts when they first came out and I did not have good luck with them so I went back to monovision contacts .I now have monovision implants which I love .I have 20 /20 vision and only use reading glasses if I'm reading a long time and my eyes get tired.

 

[travelover]

i prefer long distance contacts with reading glasses. my contacts as set up now are perfectly good for long distance and for computer distance and even some menus if the restaurant isn't too dark.

i keep a set of cheap reading glasses in all the important areas. and when i want to do a lot of reading i just take my contacts out for the day.

This is where I'm currently at. When I tried one contact for distance, one for near, my intermediate (computer) vision wasn't comfortable.

 

[Moemg]

Mono vision also have to be fitted so there is not a huge gap in the distance & close vision .That is what causes the problems.It's better to have one eye for real distance and the other eye for computer distance not really close up .My eye doctor explained this to me and he must be right because I have great vision and no perception problems.

 

[travelover]

D
Both my wife and I have used bifocal lenses for several years with no problem.
Nwsteve

How much do bifocal contacts typically cost? Thanks.

 

[chinaco]

Bifocal contact are a bit more expensive. I have used them. I have Bausch & Lomb soft lens multi-focal. (technically more than a bifocal). When I first got them I was told that a particular type seemed to work better (opinion). There are a couple of different patents. Anyway, they worked pretty well. The only small complaint that I had was that small font text seemed to have a slight shadow. I was told that this is a common complaint for bifocal contacts. It was not terribly bothersome... but noticeable.

 

[travelover]

Bifocal contacts are a bit more expensive. .

Any rough numbers? My context is that I wear one disposable contact that costs $2 at Costco and replace it every two or three weeks. I know, pretty cheap.....

 

[Arc]

Am using a trial pair right now. Very happy with them and about to place an order for more. Took me a day to adjust to them. Go for it.

 

[travelover]

Thanks to all of you for your input. I'll evaluate the alternatives, hopefully with free samples , and see what works best for me.