Bifocal contacts

[twilightsleepiness]

I now need reading glasses if I am wearing my contacts. Are bifocal contacts any good?

It depends on your prescription and whether you get on with them. I didn't, because I have astigmatism.

I wear one lens for distance and the other for reading instead and it works well for me.

How long did it take your brain to get used to that? At the moment I can read when not wearing contacts so I have tried only wearing one co fact lens but didn't get on with it at all

I can’t have them due to astigmatism. My prescription is pretty bad but I only use contacts when I’m outdoors (summer hood/cycling/skiing etc) and have reading glasses handy (from supermarket). For work I just wear specs.

I have astigmatism and contact lenses
They have concentric circles of each prescription in each lens
Took about 2 weeks to get used to and are bloody brilliant

@HappyintheHills are those toric lenses? I tried those and didn’t get on at all with them. Kept losing focus (which happened on the motorway once). I’m stuck with gas permeable. Maybe OP will get on better?

I have multifocals. I’ve worn them daily for years. They do take a couple of weeks of getting used to, and I was between prescriptions for a month recently so couldn’t wear them and had to start all over again. You have to push through double vision and dizziness for a while until your brain learns.

They’re not perfect and I can see better with my glasses but I’m pretty vain 🤣 so prefer lenses.

I’ve been wearing multi focal lenses for a whole and on the whole they were ok. I found them easy to get used to, certainly easier than my glasses

I have found now my eyes have deteriorated a bit more that they aren’t working so well and everything is sort of out of focus and we are struggling to get the prescription right

You can get bifocal gas permeables too (ask your optometrist to call up the manufacturer and see what's currently available), I've not fitted one for a couple of years - but I'd recommend a centre distance 3mm segment in one eye initially.

@twilightsleepiness the best option for correcting distance/near when you get a bit older is very person dependent, some people get on with just a lower prescription in one eye, others love varifocals contact lenses (there are several different types and it can take a couple of goes to get right), some never manage with either option. (Despite my best efforts). Make an appointment with your optometrist and you can try some out.

Yes that sounds right - I was warned it might take 2 weeks to get used to them, after 10 days I thought it was a lost cause but persevered, then at nearly 3 weeks I realised my brain had finally got it and I only have a problem if tired now.

Actually I got used to them very quickly, just took a few hours.

My optician didn't think the varifocal lenses would work for me and he was right, so the lenses in different strengths was my only option if I didn't want reading glasses too.

I had an underpowered prescription in one eye for reading (monovision lenses) for several years and it worked really well for me, I got used to it really quickly.

When I got too long sighted though I started to get headaches, so I've moved onto multifocals, which are OK, but are a compromise in different ways (haven't got quite the distance or the near vision I could get before, or that I can get with varifocal specs), plus they are more expensive and I have had to go to monthlies as I have astigmatism too and you can't get daily toric multifocals. But they're good enough for most things.