Multi focal contact lenses?

[HollyDay]

anybody have any advice or suggestions? What to look for? What to avoid?

[Audrey]

It may take a couple of sets to get comfortable.  I get mine from my opto because he will let me try out a Rx and will adjust until I get what works best for me.  When I first tried them, it took 3 Rx adjustments until we got to where I was seeing optimally and comfortably.

[Guest]

Bifocals were great. Trifocals with astigmatic correction put an end to my contact-wearing days. Alas. But the bifocals were great.

[Lara in Colo]

My mother has worn them for years, she has worn two types and prefers the kind that has the bifocal at the bottom of the lens and it is weighted to always be at the bottom.  There is another (newer) type that has the bifocal all around the lens and she said the sight wasn't as good.  She has hers custom made.  I will probably be looking into them soon since I am just about there  :(

 

[Guest]

That's so funny--I loved the all-around but couldn't stand the weighted. I guess the moral of the story is Give it a try! :0)

[gardenmom5]

Bifocals were great. Trifocals with astigmatic correction put an end to my contact-wearing days. Alas. But the bifocals were great.

 

did you have bifocals with astigmatic correction?  how were they?

[Susan C.]

Many many years ago, I had contacts with weights for astigmatism... it was difficult to keep them from moving when I blinked because evidently I have very strong upper lids. The eye doc found some larger contacts, but still, every time I blinked, the world went unfocused. I've been with regular glasses ever since. There might be better, more advanced ones out now... but in all honesty, I didn't like anything in my eyes. By the end of the day, my eyes were so irritated, they were red. So, no frames, but red eyes. Not my look.

[Liz CA]

I have Ciba Vision and they work great for me.

[PeterPan]

My dd wears the bifocal contacts and LOVES them.  She has worn them for probably 3 years now.  The optom keeps a variety of brands in stock, so they try you out on kinds before you commit and buy.  The first kind she tried worked for her, but her problems aren't complex.  I think they're becoming very common.  The optom uses bifocal contacts with her own dc, so that made me pretty comfortable that she was suggesting something sensible.  

 

They work flawlessly for her, btw.  Apparently they're concentric circles of scrip, so as you focus near or far your eye automatically looks through the correct part.  She has never mentioned them giving her problems or having issues of looking through the wrong part for the distance or something.  They seem to just work, even if they are a little weird.  

 

She wears disposables, btw.  A little pricy, but then I never have cleaning issues with a teen.  I buy a year's worth.  Definitely was a good move for us.  She has sensory issues and regular glasses were often intolerable.

[Bambam]

My dh wears multi-focal lenses - the ones with one script on the outside and another in the center. Works fine in the daylight, but it causes problems for nighttime driving due to the oncoming headlights flashing into his eyes. 

 

 

[Lady Florida.]

It may take a couple of sets to get comfortable.  I get mine from my opto because he will let me try out a Rx and will adjust until I get what works best for me.  When I first tried them, it took 3 Rx adjustments until we got to where I was seeing optimally and comfortably.

 

^^^ What Audrey said. I have seamless multifocal and love them. In the past I've had monovision (one lens is for distance, one for near) and that never really worked. Multifocal  lenses take a little getting used to, but I found it no worse than getting used to progressive lenses in glasses.

 

My eye doctor always gives me trial lenses until we find what works for me. I have an appointment next week and while I like my lenses I'm going to ask him what other ones I might try. If he thinks there's something better than what I've been wearing for the past two years, he'll let me try them out.

[KatieJ]

I tried them years ago, as PP said, every time I blinked they moved. So I moved into mono vision. I wear distance correction in my right eye and reading correction in my left. Astigmatism correction on both. I just can't make eyeglasses work and am much happier in my contacts .

[Seasider]

I have them and have enjoyed them. However, the range of near-to-far that a lens can cover does have limits. My first Rx was great, with optimal vision in both ends. A prescription later, I was willing to give up a bit on the far end to have clarity up close. I am now at the point of needing reading glasses even with my multifical contacts for reading or sewing (close work).

 

For the most part I have been very pleased with them, but in the not so distant future I will likely give up my contacts for a nice pair of progressive lens glasses.

[Guest]

did you have bifocals with astigmatic correction?  how were they?

 

It was the weighting that made me nuts.  The bifocals I had did not have the astigmatic correction, so they didn't give that out-of-focus on the blink bounce.  Here is what worked well enough for a lonnnnng time:  circular bifocal in right eye, no astgmatism correction.  Nothing in left eye, which was my natural close-in prescription.  THEN for awhile I got readers with astigmatic correction only...so I wore the one contact with no astigmatic correction and the readers which had nothing but astigmatic correction in them.  That made it a lot easier to read.  

 

When I went to trifocals, I tried the weighted lens for astigmatic correction and had to wear both lenses at that point (so both eyes would work together) and I HATED that.  Then I tried the circular trifocals without astigmatic correction but it was awfully hard to find the sweet spot on those.

 

I have trifocal astigmatic corrected glasses now, and while I miss the contacts (a lot), these work better for me at this point.  The most *brilliant* thing I have done, however, is to get three sets of glasses:

 

1.  The Full Meal Deal--astigmatic trifocal progressive lenses

2.  Dark driving / outdoor glasses with only distant and mid-range, in a bifocal insert.  I don't generally read in bright sun, and mid-range lets me see my dashboard and my feet so I can tie my shoes.  :0)

3.  Mid-distance only -- big glass for doing desk work/computer work.  I don't have to keep my head cocked at a particular angle to keep the sweet spot, which is enormously helpful when I am working on the computer in particular.  

[Peach]

I have trifocal glasses but contacts are not, just astigmatism ones. I just add a pair of drugstore reading glasses when I need to read up close and I really like the contacts better this way. they are fine for computer distance and everything really but up close stuff.