Multifocal Contact Lenses
As we age, most of us lose the ability to read things up close. This is a natural aging process that is called presbyopia. From around 45 to 50 years onwards you may need additional help with reading or for short sighted people you may need to take your glasses off to read.
Many people feel that wearing reading spectacles is part of aging, even though they find it annoying having to put spectacles on and off every time they want to read something but in actual fact there are many contact lens options that can alleviate the need for glasses. If you do not want to wear reading glasses then you should seriously consider them.
Here at N F Burnett Hodd we always have access to the latest multifocal contact lenses. In fact we are the only practice in the country to fit the latest hybrid multifocal contact lens (part RGP/part soft) called Duette that allows patients with astigmatism to wear an effective multifocal.
Biofinity Multifocals
Oasys for Presbyopia
We also have the latest soft lenses such as the Biofinity Multifocal and the Oasis For Presbyopia and the latest RGP lenses such as the Quasar Plus and Reclaim HD. We have great success with these lenses.
Most multifocal contact lenses work by giving two images to the brain, one for distance and one for near, this is called Simultaneous vision. The majority of people adapt very well to this system, although some compromise and an adaptation period may be necessary.
However, for those that don't get along with the lenses we also have bi-focal contact lenses that actually move on the eye - giving only distance vision when looking straight ahead and only near vision when looking down.
Some people opt for the simplest option called monovision, this is where one eye is corrected for distance and the other for near. This works very well for people with perfect distance vision as they only have to wear one contact lens to give a reading eye. Although this system means that you are only ever using one eye at a time - in fact almost all patients don't notice and are very pleased with the clear vision that they get. Believe it or not most of us have a dominant eye that our brain is listening to more than the other eye. However, with monovision some people choose to wear top up spectacles when driving.
We are all individuals and we all have different visual needs, we are always prepared to give you the time that you need and we work hard to find the solution that is the best for you.