Bifocal Contact Lenses

Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses are designed to give you good vision for both distance and near, when lenses for distance alone don't meet your needs.  Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses are available in both soft and gas permeable (GP) materials.

Bifocals, Multifocals – What's the difference?

Bifocal contacts lenses (like bifocal eyeglass lenses) have two powers – one for seeing clearly far away and one for seeing clearly up close. Multifocal contact lenses, like progressive eyeglass lenses, have a range of powers for seeing clearly far away, up close and everywhere in between. ("Multifocal" is also a catch-all term for all lenses with more than one power, including bifocals.)

Will multifocal contact lenses work for me?

Most people are happy with the vision that multifocal contact lenses provide.  Some people however find that they are not seeing as clearly as they would like and may be bothered by glare at night or not being able to see small print.

Another solution for presbyopia may be a monovision or modified monovision fitting of single vision contact lenses.

In monovision, one eye wears a single vision contact lens set for your distance vision and the other eye wears a prescription set for near.  In modified monovision, you wear a single vision "distance lens" on one eye and a multifocal contact lens on the other eye to help you see better up close.

Yet another option is to wear contact lenses for distance and simply wear a pair of eyeglasses over them for reading. 

To determine the best contact lenses for your vision needs when you reach "bifocal age," call our office for a consultation.