Ingenious inventions, bifocals can seem quite a hassle for certain patients. Correcting two visual conditions at the same time, the bifocal lens is basically a 2 in 1 magic lens that may pose a few difficulties for presbyopia patients.

The lower lens adjusts the vision for near distance objects and it requires the patient to lower their sight when trying to read or visualize objects in a close range. To adjust their vision to long distance objects, patients need to look up through the upper lens.

Initial bifocals had a line cutting across the middle of the lens that made the difference between the two lenses more visible. In an attempt to improve their look, researches developed the “no line bifocal reading glasses where the lens looks as if it were made out of one piece. Whereas this looks significantly better, it can sometimes be more confusing for new patients. Learning to alternate your sight naturally while wearing these glasses is a process that takes some time. Your optician will provide you with key tips on how to minimize the initial discomfort when using bifocals.

With the breakthrough development of bifocal contact lenses, using bifocals has become a very comfortable and convenient process. They can be simultaneous vision lenses or alternating lenses. Simultaneous vision lenses have two different powers, but will require your visual system to decide which power to use as both near distance and long distance powers create two images from which our eyes decide what image to keep. Alternative vision lenses are just like the bifocal glass lenses with two separate areas containing different powers.

Although it might appear as a complicated adjusting process, using bifocals whether it is bifocal glasses or bifocal contacts has now become easier with the help of all the new technological advancements!