Multifocal Contact Lenses (2023)

FAQs

Why can't I read with my multifocal contacts? ›

Why can't you read with multifocal contact lenses? Just as your distance vision might not be as clear as your near vision on some occasions, it can also be vice versa. To help yourself adapt to your new contacts, it's important to wear them consistently and as prescribed by your eye doctor.

Multifocal contact lenses allow you to see near, medium, and far distances with better visual acuity and less juggling of other devices, like wearing contacts and also wearing reading glasses. They are not for everyone, but they can be very helpful for some people who have more than one refractive error.

Wearing your multifocals as often as you can will help train your eyes to move between the different powers of the lenses easily. Most people are able to adjust to their multifocals in a week or two.

Con: You May Still Need Reading Glasses

Unfortunately, in some cases, multifocal contacts can cause your vision to be a bit blurry at different distances. Some bifocal and multifocal brands may provide better distance vision while others offer better distance vision.

Disadvantages of Multifocal Lenses

While multifocal lenses improve near, far, and intermediate vision, many people still have difficulty seeing up close. Although they can see the computer screen, their vision is blurry when trying to read a book. However, this can be corrected with reading glasses.

If you have been successfully wearing multifocals before then it is likely there is something wrong with either the fitting or prescription of the lens. If you haven't worn multifocal lenses before it may be an adaptation issue but it is worth discussing with your optometrist.

With the many lenses available to us it allows me to have a better than 90% success rate with multifocal contact lenses. My preference with any contact lens wearer is to utilize a daily modality and 73% of the contact lenses we sell are daily lenses.

The majority of patients who received either accommodating or multifocal IOLs remain satisfied with their lens of choice more than 5 years after the original surgery. Glare and halos remain more noticeable in patients who received multifocal lenses.

If someone has an ocular comorbidity in either eye (eg, severe dry eye disease, irregular astigmatism, epiretinal membranes, macular degeneration), he or she is not eligible for a multifocal IOL. In my practice, this means that 50% of patients are ineligible.

The most popular type of multifocal, they are nearly always soft lenses, and are available in two designs: Concentric ring designs - with alternating rings of distance and near powers.

How does the brain adapt to multifocal contact lenses? ›

Because the visual cortex contains no prewired circuitry that allows it to digest information from multifocal lenses, the brain requires a period of adjustment known as neuroadaptation that involves suppressing near vision when gazing at distant objects and restricting distance vision when focusing up close.

In most studies, multifocal lenses achieved better spectacle independence, somewhere between 65 and 95%, according to Dr. Assia, while this rate is lower for monovision, achieving between 35 and 90% spectacle freedom.

Candidates for multifocal contact lens success include presbyopic patients who wear only glasses, those who wear contact lenses but wear reading glasses over them and those who are already wearing monovision contact lenses (particularly those with high computer use).

Wearing the Wrong Prescription Long-Term

There isn't a risk of long-term eye damage in most adults with stabilized vision. But, you can still experience symptoms affecting vision and comfort. Wearing a prescription that is too weak or too strong can cause: Blurry vision.

Some distortion or dizziness isn't uncommon in patients new to multifocal lenses. This discomfort occurs due to the different lens powers in their bifocals or trifocals. Expect these reactions to go away after a few weeks of regularly wearing your eyeglasses.

A multifocal intraocular lens can be implanted in 1 eye and the monofocal lens in the opposite eye.

Using a single contact lens won't hurt your eyes if that's what your prescription calls for. However, if you're not wearing both contacts because you lost one of them, you may experience vision loss symptoms in the unprotected eye. Blurry, distorted vision and other side effects of uncorrected vision can return.

And one of the biggest reasons they decrease or stop wearing contacts is the difficulty they face reading with their contacts after presbyopia begins to set in around the early 40's. Presbyopia is the diminished ability of the natural lens in our eyes to focus up close on near objects.

Why are distance vision blurry with multifocal contacts? ›

One of the most frequently asked questions in clinic is why multifocal contacts are blurry in the distance. There is a little give and take that happens with the physics of bending light here. Multifocals essentially take away a bit of your distance clarity to allow you to see well up close.

If you've noticed that you have to lower your head or glasses to read at a distance, this could be a sign that your progressive lenses have been fitted high on your face. Either you or your eye doctor may be able to correct this by adjusting your frames to sit lower on your face or by widening the nose pads.

The most common reasons for blurry vision with contacts are an outdated prescription, a new prescription you haven't adjusted to yet, wearing your contacts for too long, contacts that don't fit correctly, and allergies.

As with any new eye prescription, it may take a few days for your eyes and brain to adjust to the changes. New prescriptions may cause mild headaches or slight dizziness. If this persists after the first week, it may be a sign that your prescription needs to be adjusted.

If you're going to sit down and read a book for several hours or are driving often at night, glasses may serve you better. However, the goal with contact lens solutions is to get you through most of your tasks for the majority of the time.

Should contacts be blurry at first? When you first wear contacts, it may take a few seconds for the lens to settle into the right place. This can cause blurred vision for a short moment in time. If your new contacts are blurry, this could also indicate that you are wearing the wrong prescription.

Even though a progressive lens allows you to see near and far distances clearly, these lenses aren't the right choice for everyone. Some people never adjust to wearing a progressive lens. If this happens to you, you may experience constant dizziness, problems with depth perception, and peripheral distortion.

Progressive lenses are an all-inclusive type of eyewear that helps you see up close, far away, and everywhere in between. That means that progressive lenses are good for driving, so if you plan to take a road trip or drive to work, you can feel confident in your choice of vision correction.

If wearers are not used to multiple changes in lens power, progressive lenses can make them nauseous and dizzy at first. Another disadvantage is that peripheral vision can be slightly altered by the changes that occur at the edge of progressive lenses.

Buildup of debris and protein deposits on the surface of the contact lenses is the most common reason for the lenses to seem cloudy or hazy. The easiest way to see if this is the problem, is to take the lenses out and compare the vision in your glasses.

What is multifocal contact lens fitting success rate? ›

Success rates after the first or second trial lens can be greater than 90% when the right patient is paired with the right lens.

Monovision means wearing one contact lens that corrects only distance vision in one eye, and wearing another lens that corrects only near vision in the other eye. This has traditionally been a popular way to correct presbyopia for contact lens wearers.