Specialty Contact lenses

Bifocal and Multifocal Contact Lenses

If you are over 40 and having difficulty or frustrated with the decreased ability to see up close, you probably have a common age-related condition called Presbyopia. Presbyopia occurs when our eye’s natural lens loses the ability to focus on objects up close. In many instances, people notice having to hold reading material like cell phones or prescription bottles further away, or rely on over the counter reading glasses to see clearly.

Fortunately for those who don’t like the look, feel, or convenience of reading glasses, we have the technology and expertise to provide an alternative option! There are several contact lens options available even to the novice wearer that will suit your prescription and lifestyle. Bifocal and Multifocal Contact Lenses

If you are over 40 and having difficulty or frustrated with the decreased ability to see up close, you probably have a common age-related condition called Presbyopia. Presbyopia occurs when our eye’s natural lens loses the ability to focus on objects up close. In many instances, people notice having to hold reading material like cell phones or prescription bottles further away, or rely on over the counter reading glasses to see clearly.

Fortunately for those who don’t like the look, feel, or convenience of reading glasses, we have the technology and expertise to provide an alternative option! There are several contact lens options available even to the novice wearer that will suit your prescription and lifestyle.

Soft Multifocal Contacts

For years, trying to get patients into a lens design that will allow them to see binocularly, or with both eyes, at distance and near has been a challenge at best. Newer designs and technology have emerged that allow the ability for patients to go about their everyday life without having to sacrifice their vision. With several different contact lens manufacturers to choose from, a soft multifocal lens allows you to have the best of both worlds accommodating distance and near simultaneously.

Soft Astigmatic Multifocal Contacts

Astigmatism is an irregularly shaped cornea or lens that prevents light from focusing properly on the retina, the light-sensitive surface at the back of the eye. This is a fairly common condition that can be routinely corrected with contacts. However, when a patient has an astigmatism and is also presbyopic, it makes it much more difficult to correct for both. Previously, one had to decide whether to correct for astigmatism or presbyopia - this is no longer the case! Soft Astigmatic Multifocal CLs are fully customizable that provide clear, comfortable and seamless vision at all distances.

Gas Permeable Lenses (RGP Contacts)

RGP contacts were first introduced in the 1970s and are hard lenses made of durable plastic material. While RGP contacts are not as popular as they once were, they offer several advantages compared to soft contacts including longer durability, increased oxygen transmission to the eye and providing sharp crisp vision. They are also custom fit to each patient and available in single vision, bifocal or multifocal designs to accommodate every lifestyle.

“Hard-to-Fit” Contact Lenses

Oftentimes, patients may have difficulty wearing commercially available or generic CLs. This may include having a unique eye shape, certain eye conditions or diseases, or post-surgical changes making the eye “hard-to-fit” in contacts. However, there are a variety of options available that can provide clear and comfortable contacts. These contacts are fully customized and require a specialized fitting unique to each patient.

You may have been considered “hard-to-fit” in contacts if you have any of the following conditions:

• Keratoconus

• Pellucid Marginal Degeneration

• Dry eyes

• Corneal scarring

• Astigmatism

• Post LASIK or other refractive surgery
  
  

Gas Permeable Lenses

RGP contacts have been highly effective in many “hard-to-fit” contact lens patients. The oxygen permeable lenses allow the eye to breathe and retain moisture under the lens to prevent the eye from drying out. In addition, compared to soft contact lenses that drape over the cornea, the rigid material provides a smooth ocular surface smoothing out any corneal irregularities providing sharp, crisp vision.

Scleral Lenses

Scleral lenses are a large, bowl shaped gas permeable lens that vault over the entire cornea and rest on the white part of the eye, or the sclera. By resting on the sclera, the comfort is similar to soft contacts, if not better! These custom contacts are used most commonly to treat patients with an irregular corneal surface like Keratoconus or Dry Eye.

​​​​​​​If you have any of these above conditions or find difficulty wearing contact lenses for any other reason, talk to one of our doctors today. As contact lens technology continues to evolve, so does the increased availability of options for every patient.