What is the difference between bifocal and multifocal lenses

If you would like to learn more about the difference between these types of contact lenses, the best thing to do is make an appointment for a contact lens fitting. To get fit for bifocal or multifocal glasses or contacts, please contact us today or an optometrist near you. Our eye doctors in Jacksonville can fit you for the right type of glasses or contacts. Call us now to make an appointment at the VAL-Uvision location of your choice. VAL-Uvision now offers online contact lens ordering!

Office visits to replenish your contact lens supply are now unnecessary. Simply click to order contacts online and have them delivered right to your front door! Do you need a contact lens fitting in one of our Jacksonville locations? Call us today to schedule a contact lens exam! Regency Park: Home About Meet the Doctors Dr.

Gayle P. Leinwohl Dr. Mary-Eliza Del Campo Dr. What are Bifocals? I need to order contacts I would like to book an in-office appointment Question about my glasses order Call me back. Submit and Request Contact. Have Questions? Call Us Today At. Contact Us Crowfoot Site Map Book Online. Alisha Adatia. Alisha Dhanji. Harpreet Minhas. Nicole Stocks. Samantha Lai. Sarah MacDonald. Sherene Vazhappilly.

Treatments Eye Care Technology. Emergency Eye Care. Computer Vision Syndrome. Cataract Assessment and Management. Presbyopia Treatment. Vision Therapy. Retinal Detachment. Nearsighted Myopia. Farsighted Hyperopia. Macular Degeneration. Pink Eye. With bifocal eyeglasses, this mechanism works because the lenses stay in place even as your eye moves. Unlike soft multifocal contact lenses which move with your eyes , segmented GP bifocal contacts can be designed to stay in a certain position while your eye moves behind the lens.

Segmented GP lenses are smaller in diameter than soft contact lenses and rest on a layer of tears above the margin of your lower eyelid. Therefore, when your gaze shifts downward, the lens stays in place, allowing you to see through the lower, near-correction part of the lens see illustration. Custom GP lenses also can be made with a segmented trifocal design, which includes a small, ribbon-shaped segment for intermediate vision, like trifocal eyeglass lenses. Bifocal contact lenses have been around for many years, but until recently they weren't very popular.

Older bifocal designs didn't satisfy many people, leading to frustration among wearers and prescribers alike. Today, new technology has produced more successful designs, as well as a greater variety of designs. So if one design doesn't work for you, another might. Monovision involves using single-vision lenses to put your near prescription on one eye and your distance prescription on the other. Modified monovision uses a single-vision lens on one eye and a multifocal lens on the other.

If multifocal contact lenses or monovision contacts don't provide adequate vision at all distances for you, an effective alternative is to wear eyeglasses with progressive lenses over your contact lenses when needed. Many contact lens wearers prefer wearing glasses with progressive lenses rather than reading glasses because:. Full-size eyeglasses with line-free progressive lenses look more youthful than store-bought "readers.

Progressive lenses can correct any mild residual astigmatism or other refractive error not fully corrected by your contacts.

For this reason, eyeglasses with progressive lenses may give you sharper vision for specific activities like night driving.

Progressive lenses allow you to see clearly at all distances without having to constantly put on and take off reading glasses. Two factors that your eye doctor will consider in choosing a bifocal contact lens are pupil size and your "add," or near prescription. There are no hard and fast rules. But, in general, aspheric multifocal contact lenses tend to work best for mild to moderate presbyopia, and concentric or segmented multifocal contacts often are more successful for advanced presbyopia.

You may need to try different bifocal contact lens designs before finding the one that's right for you.