Multifocal contact lenses - any good?

[TribulationPeriwinkle]

I’m so bored with having to think about whether I’m wearing my lenses, or varifocals, or reading glasses. Are multifocal lenses the answer? I don’t want to blow £££ on them if they’re not. I’d love to hear your experiences!

I had monovision lenses 1 Lens reading the other distance. I then had multifocal lenses but with those you get a little interférence between thé 2 zones of the lens. Finally I had distance lenses and a pai of otc reading glasses to cover thé difference between my reading and distance prescriptions. Now i'm using a pair of monovision glasses that I had when playing on a keyboard and needing arms' length reading. Still at 2 diopters below my old reading prescription.
Hope that helps

Sorry to be dim, but what are
monovision glasses?

I currently wear either contact lenses for distance + otc reading glasses, or varifocal glasses.
I was imagining, probably optimistically, that the multifocal lenses would do away with the constant on-off of the reading glasses, and also make driving a bit simpler (at the moment I either wear glasses and have to remember to take my prescription sunglasses
out with me, or wear my lenses and struggle to see the sat-nav).

I love my varifocal glasses but couldn’t get on with multifocal contacts - everything was blurry and I got headaches. I recall that I trialled them at Specsavers for free or very little money to work this out - can you find a similar offer?

I have a vague memory of Vision Express offering me a trial of multifocal lenses a while back but I baulked at the time because they were so expensive. Maybe I’ll reopen that conversation!

Just checked and Specsavers will still do you a free trial: https://www.specsavers.co.uk/offers/try-contact-lenses-free

In fact it’s more than 2 years since I last tried them so I might go back for another go at it.

They worked for a while, but as I aged they were less good for reading. Distance is ok but I use cheap ready reader glasses to see small print. So, it possibly depends on age?

My husband didn't get on with the multifocals. The optician then recommended a short-sighted prescription in one eye and long sighted one in the other and it worked a treat. I think that's what's meant by monovision lenses, referred to above? One eye is for distance, the other for reading.

But with all these things you can get a trial, so no need to blow £££

I'm currently trialling some from Specsavers and have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I've been wearing monovision contact lenses for donkey's years but they're no longer doing the job well. I don't think the extra cost will justify changing them. I'll just have to continue wearing readers with my current lenses.

I didn't get on with multivision lenses at all. Monovision work well for me, one eye for reading, the other for distance.

I’m also using Monovision lenses. Overall my vision is good but not as perfect as non mono vision lenses. But still ok to drive etc. and great for reading now - don’t need to put the reading glasses on now. Ask your optician about mono vision and if it would work for you

I have mono vision lenses from Specsavers, +4.5 for reading eye and +2.5 for distance eye.
I had glasses on and off my head for years (I'm 60 now) and also got fed up of constantly losing them.
These lenses are an absolute game changer for me. I have monthly ones - I think they're around £12 per month, and Specsavers have sent me spare ones free of charge when I've dropped one down the radiator!

Specsavers are not very good. I'd go somewhere else.

I have them in now, and I actually forget I'm wearing them most of the time.

Neither my distance nor close up.are perfect with them, but they're both good enough not to care.

I go to boots.

I have multifocal contacts and they are very good - I find vision not quite as good as multifocal glasses but worth it for the lack of faff.

Do experiment - I didn't get on with a more mono vision approach, and did try out a couple of different prescription mixes to get one I like. Specsavers have been good for me, very patient with free trials & changes.

Thanks, everyone! I had no idea monovision was even a thing.

I tried multifocal contacts and couldn't get on with them. The best solution that I've found it to have one contact lens for distance and the other for near vision. I have the distance lens on the left as it's better when reading road signs that way. This works well for most activities.

However, I still need magnification for reading and have 'reading glasses' for close work. I am very longsighted and my focal distance is too great for small print. So, I have a pair of glasses adjusted for the different vision in each of my lenses (but also have spare pairs that are off the shelf as I have them all over the house, in my handbag, etc.)

In my experience, there isn't a simple solution.

They don’t work for me for reading or my job which is computer based. I wear glasses most of the time and just wear contacts if I’m off out for a special occasion.

I wear them but find that I can't tolerate them for as long as I could single vision contacts. I usually take them out and put my glasses on as soon as I'm home. They are never quite as good as the equivalent glasses I find. For example.if I know I am going to be doing a lot of work with figures and having to concentrate I would wear my glasses as I find my eyes become dry and sore doing it with contacts.

Exactly the same here. I can now read signs in airports for example but ideally need magnifiers to read small print up close whilst wearing multifocal lenses. I bought these

MMOWW Reading Glasses 3 Pack for Women Blue Light Blocking Oversized Computer Readers Spring Hinge Ladies (Black + Brown Tortoiseshell + Grey Tortoiseshell, 1.0) amzn.eu/d/53HB4ou

I have multifocal contacts and recently moved to neg in one eye and pos in the other. Has changed my life and have gone from only occasionally wearing my contacts to wearing them 5 days a week. its like going back to not wearing glasses.

Do try different brands as it took a while to get the right ones for me.

I had monovision for years, but as my near vision gets worse I'm was getting on less well with it.

I'm experimenting with a variety of combinations of lenses at the moment, via Specsavers.

I really like the multifocals for everything except very close work (eg threading a needle).

I know Specsavers don't always have a great reputation but my branch has been brilliant. I feel very well looked after.

I have bifocal rigid gas permeables from this company and they’re brilliant: https://www.scotlens.com/lenses/delta/

My optician tried me on ones from a bigger manufacturer but they were useless for reading - I would have needed reading glasses as well.

Multifocal were hopeless for me, I couldn't see near or distance.

Monovision work really well. I was -1.5 in distance eye and -0.5 in reading eye.

I now just use the distance lense, so only paying for 1 lense.
I also have a pair of glasses in the car with a clear lense on my distance eye side and -1.5 on my reading eye side to give me that extra distance clarity when driving.

I am exactly the same