Bifocal & Mulitfocal Contact Lenses

As you start reaching your 40’s you may need to start holding reading material farther from your eyes, this condition is called presbyopia. To help with this condition bifocal and multifocal contact lenses have been designed to give you good vision at close range and from a distance.  Some of theses types of contact lenses come available as disposables,  meaning you have the convenience of throwing the lenses out at specified intervals, including daily, and replacing them with fresh, new lenses.

Types of multifocal contact lenses

Based on the design used there are two types of multifocal contact lenses.

Simultaneous vision contact lenses.

With these lenses, both distance and near zones of the lens are in front of your pupil at the same time. Simultaneous vision lenses are most often soft lenses and available in two designs.

Concentric ring design

These are bifocal lenses with either the distance or near power in the center of the lens, with alternating rings of distance and near powers surrounding it.

Aspheric design

These lenses are many powers blended across the lens surface. Depending on manufacturer some lenses have the distance power in the center of the lens and others have the near power on the center of the lens.

Alternating Vision Contact Lenses

These RGP multifocal lenses are similar to bifocal eyeglasses. The top part of the lens is used for distance viewing while the bottom part of the contact lens is used for near viewing. The lower lid holds the lens in place while the pupil moves into the near zone of the lens for reading.

Will Multifocal Contact Lenses work for me?

Most of our patients are very happy with the freedom and vision that multifocal lenses provide to them at close range and at a distance. However, for some patients a small compromise may be required between the distance and the near vision. In some rare instances a monovision or modified monovision fitting might be required. In monovision a single vision distance contact lens is worn in one eye and a single vision near contact lens is worn in the other eye. A modified monovision fitting is when you wear a distance vision contact lens in one eye and a multifocal contact lens in the other eye. To determine the best contact lens for your vision please call for a consultation or schedule an eye exam online with one of our optometrists.