As we reach our mid-40s, we enter presbyopia. Presbyopia is a condition in which the muscles that help you focus up close naturally deteriorate. This is an aging process that is unavoidable. Most people will need to wear glasses to read, and for people with shortsightedness (myopia), simply taking off their corrective glasses will suffice for reading. Some find wearing glasses to read distasteful or impractical and seek a solution for this through wearing contact lenses.
You may be wondering how that works, as you will need to combine two different prescriptions—your distance and reading—into one set of contact lenses. There are two ways your Optometrist will offer this correction to you.
Monovision
Monovision works by having one eye corrected for distance and the other eye corrected for reading. This means each eye will have a different focus, and the brain learns to focus on each eye depending on the visual demand required. This design is also ideal for patients that require their astigmatism corrected. This provides sharp vision for both distance and near, but patients may have issues with depth perception and nighttime driving.
Multifocal
Multifocal contact lenses provide both the distance and reading prescription. This is done through a complex design where, within each contact lens, there are ‘concentric rings’ of alternating distance and reading power. The brain learns to focus on the correct part of the lens for each distance. This allows for improved binocular vision but may sacrifice the sharpness of vision achieved.
With contact lenses, there is unfortunately always a compromise, but they offer patients convenience for correction in all ranges of distance. Personally, I have found that patients with both designs find the intermediate range limited, especially those who spend long periods behind a computer.
Contact Lens Difficulties with Age
Contact lenses may be a difficult journey with a rewarding outcome. For older patients, there may be a few more hurdles to achieving this outcome. With age, tear production in the eyes normally decreases, and the use of medications increases, most of which have side effects that cause dryness in the eyes. This can make comfortability in the lenses slightly harder, which can limit the option of lenses they can choose to wear. Having monovision in contact lenses requires uncompromised vision, as each eye is required for a different task or may be needed to work together to create better vision.
Your first step on this journey is to seek your Optometrist’s advice on these different options and what would suit you the most. This gives you an overview of available solutions, and as time passes, the design of these lenses will continue to improve.
