Bifocal contact lenses

[a 1 player]

Has anyone used them? How well do they work? Damn I hate getting older.

 

[tboy]

I have heard about them but can't see how they'd work for a number of reasons:

1) contact lens' amplify the nearsighted effect so I don't know how they could help...
2) A "reading" type pair of glasses will allow you to use all of your pupil to see the fine print. A bi-focal contact lens would only allow you to use part of your pupil so how could that be comfortable?

I have heard of cases where they set up one eye to read distance, and the other to see close up with different power of lens'. I tried this for about 3 minutes and it gave me a severe headache.

Supposedly your brain compensates for the two 'scripts so you can see normally after a time.

I'm in the same boat as you: contacts for seeing distance, and reading glasses for up close. Being as how I'm a carpenter I go through about a pair of reading glasses everyweek so I just buy em at the dollar store in bulk (usually 4 or 5 at a time).

 

[Art Mann]

I have heard of cases where they set up one eye to read distance, and the other to see close up with different power of lens'. I tried this for about 3 minutes and it gave me a severe headache.

This is called monovision. It's based on the fact that we all rely on one eye for distance acuity and the other for closeup acuity. If you're a hunter or you shoot pool, you should already know which is your eye for distance acuity.

If you don't know which is which, there's a simple test: Make a circle with your index finger and thumb, extend your arm in the direction of an object 20 feet or more away, and look through that circle to focus both eyes on the object. Close one eye, then open it and close the other. If the object doesn't move, the eye that's open is your distance eye; if it jumps out of the circle, you're looking at it with your near eye.

It's also the principle with lasik surgery. One eye is tuned differently than the other.

I've been wearing monovision lens for over 20 years. My glasses have the same prescription. Been a good solution for me, but my optometrist does assure me there will come a time when I require reading glasses for working at the computer.

It took me a couple hours the first time I tried monovision test lenses. I know folks who required a couple days to get used to monovision.

Too bad about the headaches tboy. You'd probably enjoy the results otherwise.

 

[tboy]

One of the reasons is the 8 diopter difference between close up and distance vision.......I was talking to my neighbour and she said her daughter has a really strong prescription for her contacts...I said "how much"?

She said 2.5 can you believe that?

I guffawed, 2.5? Holy crap you think THAT'S strong? I'm 8 in one eye and 7.75 in the other!!!!