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Conveniently located in the Marketplace Shopping Center between Bishop Ranch and Windemere, and serving San Ramon, Danville, Dublin, and the East Bay region since 1989.

Conveniently located in the Marketplace Shopping Center between Bishop Ranch and Windemere, and serving San Ramon, Danville, Dublin, and the East Bay region since 1989.

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Home » What's New » Multifocal Lenses and You

Multifocal Lenses and You

Are you over 40 and finding it more of a challenge to read small print? You might have presbyopia, a condition that affects many of those who are approaching middle age. It's one of the harsher realities of getting older, but it's good to know that developing presbyopia when you already need glasses for near sightedness doesn't mean you need to start switching between multiple pairs of glasses. This is all thanks to multifocal lenses, which take care of both problems, making sure you always see clearly.

At one point, bifocals were widely prescribed, but they were far from all that great; even though they help you to focus on both near and distant objects, everything in between is blurred. To fix this issue, progressive lenses were made. These give you a transition part of the lens allowing you focus on everything between near and far distances. Let's explain how this works. Progressive lenses are expertly curved, unlike a bifocal lens, which is sharply divided. Because of this, progressive lenses are also known as no-line lenses.

These lenses can take a small period of time to adjust to. While the gentle transition of progressive lenses results in a product that is elegant, the lens's areas of focus are relatively small, so that there's also room for transitional areas.

Even though multifocal lenses (or trifocals) are for presbyopia, bifocals are often employed to treat young patients with eye problems like eye teaming, or being unable to focus while reading, which in turn, can lead to headaches.

Although it may seem like an easy fix, avoid purchasing pharmacy bifocals. A lot of these ''ready-made'' glasses are one-size-fits-all, which means that the both lenses contain the same prescription and that the optical center of the lens is not customized for the wearer.

If your prescription or fit is off you may find yourself suffering from headaches, eye strain or even nausea. Unfortunately, presbyopia is a reality of aging. But don't forget; multifocal lenses can make all the difference.