I am considering getting bifocal lenses and I am wondering if anyone here has had experience wearing them. I am 59 yrs. old, which may be a factor. Currently, I am trying to adapt to progressive lenses and I am have a bit of difficulty. What’s the scoop?
Sorry, I can’t help with bifocal lenses but I use monovision lenses (different power lenses in each eye - one for near vision and one for far). Mostly this works ok for me, my problem is with the soft lenses correcting my astigmatism which occassionally get out of alignment.
I too would be interested to hear from anyone who uses bifocal lenses!
I’ve had the bifocal contacts for about 2.5 years now. Closest thing to a “miracle” I’ve experienced lately. I’ve always been nearsighted, but adding the need for reading glasses at age 40 meant I was often double-correcting. It seemed silly to wear both contacts AND reading glasses at the same time to work on the computer, but there I was.
The bifocal contacts have given me the best of both worlds. When my friends reach for reading glasses, I can just say “gimme that” and read away, and still see a squirrel 50 yards distant.
From what I gather from my optometrist: they don’t work for a lot of people (“half” was his guess). When they work as intended, they really are incredible.
They used to work for me, now not so much 
They’re just like progressive lenses, in that you look down to read close print, etc.
I would like to be able to wear them again. I’m torn though. I’ve never been one of those people who could pop in a lens without even thinking about it.
This is the first I’ve heard of these. My mom has the monocular lenses, but I don’t like the idea of losing stereoscopic vision (even if to a small degree). This would seem to be a great solution.
I don’t need bifocals yet, but am clearly on the way.
I had one for long and one for short view. That worked well.
I had bifocal contacts for several years and they worked great. They were gas permeable (hard contacts to those of us of a certain age). I had no probelm adjusting to them (as opposed to bifocal glasses which took me mnths). Then I developed eye allergies and had to switch to soft contacts. I have astigmatism so I can’t wear soft bifocal lenses. They just won’t work for my problem. So I wear soft contacts with readers. Makes no sense–I might go back to regular glasses since I always have the readers on!
Peedin, you might try the monovision lenses. I also have astigmatism and need bifocals but use monovision (one far, one near) with great success. It does cost you a bit of depth perception but the mind is a wonderful thing and adapts to just about everything.
I just got this link the other day: (Bausch & Lomb multi-focal contacts & coupon)
Don’t waste your money. I have a pair in the bathroom that cost me a couple hundred. I am only near sighted and they make everything blurry. I went to a eye doctor for mine and he won’t take them back. I am using reading glasses until they come out with something better.
They don’t work if you are only near sighted. If you still have perfect distance vision your eyes will over correct and everything will be blurry. I have 20/15 distance vision but only recently started to need reading glasses.
For those of you with astigmatism AND presbyopia, there actually are multifocal toric contact lenses (made by CooperVision, and sold, if I’m not mistaken, under the brand name Proclear). They’re pretty expensive, but the patient I have who wears them is pretty happy with them. That being said, he’s an MD with plenty of disposable income and vanity at play.
I work in an ophthalmology office, and I manage almost all of the contact lens business. We have several thousand contact lens patients. I don’t do the actual prescribing or fitting of the lenses, but I’ve learned enough to know some stuff 
The newer technology with bifocal contact lenses is, in fact, resulting in happier patients! The brands we use most often are Oasys for Presbyopia (Acuvue family of contacts, by Vistakon) and C-Vue Multifocals, made by Unilens. C-Vue seems to have a higher success rate than any other brand of multifocal contact lens in our office. They are, however, available only through private practitioners, and cannot, to my knowledge, be purchased at a retail establishment or online. Vistakon is claiming to have revolutionized the multifocal contact lens market, but I have to say that our patients don’t seem to like the Oasys lenses all that much. I can’t offer an opinion on them personally, because I don’t wear contact lenses. Chronic dry eyes and enough astigmatism to require toric lenses are a bad combination!
I have a large number of patients who wear “monovision” which has been mentioned here (dominant eye corrected for distance, non-dominant corrected for near). That won’t work forever, as the need for correction at near will continue to change with age, even if the need for distance correction remains constant. What I refer to as “modified monovision” seems to work well for a lot of people too. The dominant eye is fully corrected for distance, and the non-dominant eye is fit with a multifocal contact lens. Again, this probably only works to a certain age.
As Raza said, when they work right, they are amazing. But they are not for everyone. My advice is to ask your optometrist about it, and ask if you can “trial” a few different brands. Different brands are constructed differently, and what works for you might not work for me. More than 99% of our contact lens business is done with disposable contact lenses, and we provide trials to our patients who want to explore their options. I’ve had patients who’ve tried 4 or 5 different lenses before finding one they like or simply giving up.
I’ll check back in, just in case there are any questions I feel I know enough to answer.
Bifocal contact lenses is good vision to people. Doctors may also try this related
Monovision using single-vision lens to put near prescription on one eye and distance prescription on the other.
Modified monovision using single-vision lens on one eye and multifocal lens on the other.