Bifocals vs Progressive lenses which should you go for?
If you’ve realized that you need a new prescription for your glasses, one that probably will have to include a bi-focal, it may help to know that you have some options. Bi-focal lenses must be placed in larger frames and include that tell-tale line that is a division between the two different lenses. Smaller, more fashionable frames didn’t work with these lenses until engineers came up with a lot of adjustments.
Many advances have been made in the way combination lenses are created. Bi-focal lenses are still available and may be better for some people. However, Progressive Lenses or no-line bi-focal sales have been on the rise and are now the preferred lenses, by far, for those who need dual strength lenses.
Progressive Lenses = More Natural Correction
Progressive lenses give a more natural correction of presbyopia or far-sighted vision. These lenses will give you a multi-focal view and their multi-powered lens strength takes into account the need to see long distances, intermediate distances and to read or view things up close and lets you do all of these comfortably.
With a traditional bi-focal lens, there tends to be a need to allow the eyes to adjust from reading to viewing things at a long distance. There’s a kind of a “jump” between the two lens strengths, making part of the vision temporarily out of focus.
This does not occur with the progressive lenses. Your optical caregiver will carefully measure your range of vision as well as the glasses frames so these lenses will allow you to properly see all the things around you, both near and far. You will be able to see across the room, work at your computer and do fine handwork or read a newspaper article. All these things will be clear for you.
A progressive lens will give a better correction of your far-sighted vision than will the traditional bifocal or trifocal. Those glasses have only two or three strengths in the lenses but a progressive lens has many different strengths, progressing, as it were, from one power to the next. This allows you to easily see at a variety of ranges and distances.
Something discuss when deciding on the right frames and lenses for you, is whether or not you will invest in anti-scratch and glare coatings for your lenses.
Precise Measurements Done by an Optometrist
Because your optician or eye care practitioner must take such precise measurements not only of your vision requirements but also of your chosen frames, they can now fix these specifications into those currently more stylish and designer frames. Your progressive lenses, being line free, will never give away your age.
While the changes made with progressive lenses means that more people are opting for them, they will not be suitable for everyone. Some people, for example, find it difficult to see when going up and down stairs. The progressive lenses make it seem like the stairs are bouncing. Given a couple of weeks to adjust, this problem will often right itself. Still, the eyes of some will not be able to adapt. Bifocals may be best for them.
Consult with your optical caregiver to see which glasses will work best with your eyes. Most people, however, will be able to find a kind of progressive lens that is best for their lifestyle.
