Talking About Optometry For Kids

Contacts May Be The Best Way To Deal With Your Presbyopia

23 August 2016

Amelia Dunn

If you have presbyopia, you may be frustrated by the need to wear reading glasses. If your vision has always been good, it may be difficult to get used to wearing glasses, since you don't need to wear them all the time. You may constantly misplace your glasses and never seem to have them when you need to read something. The solution to this problem could be contact lenses. You can get contacts for your presbyopia, even if you have no other vision problem. Here's how it works.

Monovision Lenses

Monovision contact lenses are one option when you have presbyopia. With these, one lens is fitted for your far vision, and the other is fitted for your close vision. Your eyes grow accustomed to the lenses, and the result is you can see clearly far away and up close because your eyes focus through the lens that's needed for what you're doing. One disadvantage of these contacts is that they may affect your depth perception. They might also make it difficult for you to see well when you drive at night. Your optometrist can help you decide if monovision lenses are right for you based on the results of your eye test and your lifestyle. One advantage of going with monovision contacts is that they are available in both hard and soft lenses.

Bifocal Lenses

Bifocal contacts work just like bifocal glasses. The upper part of the lens is adjusted for your far vision, and the lower part is made to correct your near vision so you can see well enough to read up close and far away. Lenses can also be trifocal or even multifocal if you are nearsighted or farsighted and need to correct your vision problem as well as your presbyopia. It takes an adjustment period to get used to wearing bifocal lenses, but eventually, you'll be able to adjust your vision from near to far without noticeable visual disturbances. Of course, it is important to get the precise prescription for the lenses, which your eye doctor will do after examining your eyes, the shape of your cornea, the amount of tears you have, and even your blink rate.

Your doctor may advise you to go with hard bifocal lenses. That's because they are less irritating and drying to your eyes, and they are more stable, so there is less risk of them shifting while you wear them.

Presbyopia is a common eye condition that affects nearly everyone to some degree as they get older. It can be extremely frustrating because you may need to hold a menu at arm's length or you may struggle to read labels at the grocery store if you forget your glasses. When you wear contacts daily, your vision is corrected at all times, so you don't have to carry reading glasses or leave glasses hanging from your neck. With new advancements in contacts, your eye doctor can probably find a way to fit you for contacts that work like reading glasses whether you have any other vision problems or not.

For more information, contact Sheinkopf And Tomasik Eye Associate or a similar location.

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