Unhappy With Your Bifocals?
If you have presbyopia, then you are probably very familiar with bifocal and trifocal lenses. You might be used to tilting your head slightly and dealing with the split second of blurriness. If you are on the more extreme end of those with presbyopia, then bifocals might cause headaches or disorientation. Some simple tasks might become unpleasant, which can be especially difficult if you use a computer for work. Even for people without glasses, staring a computer screen can sometimes cause muscle spasms.
Bifocal and trifocal lenses can exacerbate this problem especially in some people. Maybe instead of dealing with bifocals you have opted to just use two sets of glasses, one for reading and one for driving. If you’ve ever grabbed the wrong pair, you have probably wished you only needed one set of glasses. Progressive lenses solve this problem by correct both long range and up-close vision with just one lens.
Presbyopia and Bifocals
If you are in your 30s or 40s and have never worn glasses but are now noticing your vision isn’t as crisp as it used to be, it’s possible you have presbyopia. Presbyopia is a common condition that can arise simply from aging. It affects both long distance and close range vision. This is what bifocals were traditionally used to correct, however, bifocals created other uncomfortable side effects.
Since they were first invented in the 1800s, bifocal design has rarely changed. Because bifocals use two distinct lenses, they create a separation in your field of vision, which can cause some unwanted side effects.
Benefits of Progressive Lenses
If you have experienced any issues with bifocal or trifocal lenses or multiple pairs of glasses, you will be excited to learn about the innovation of progressive lenses. Unlike bifocals and trifocals, progressive lenses provide you with a full range of vision in a single pair of glasses without the abrupt switch from one vision correction to another.
Sometimes described as “multi-focal,” progressive lenses can correct both near and far sighted issues with one lens. This solves the problem with bifocals known as “image jump” when you quickly shift fields of vision. This unnatural skipping condition is solved by progressive lenses.
Types of Progressive Lenses
Progressive lenses are an ever evolving technology. With the prevalence of computers in the workplace now, and the common condition of muscle strain from viewing LCD monitors, most progressive lens manufacturers are continually evolving their design. New progressive lens designs focus specifically on refining your prescription to view LCD monitors. Whether you work at a computer or you are in a truck driving on the road all day, progressive lenses can provide you the security and comfort of knowing you have a full field of vision at all times.
[Photo Via: Wikimedia]