Bifocal and Multifocal Contact Lenses

Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses are designed to give you good vision when you reach your 40s. Beginning at this age, you may need to hold reading material – like a menu or newspaper – farther from your eyes to see it clearly. This condition is called “presbyopia.”

Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses are available in both soft and rigid gas permeable (GP) materials.

Bifocals, multifocals – What’s the difference?

Bifocal contacts lenses (like bifocal eyeglass lenses) have two powers – one for seeing clearly far away and one for seeing clearly up close. Multifocal contact lenses, like progressive eyeglass lenses, have a range of powers for seeing clearly far away, up close and everywhere in between. (“Multifocal” is also a catch-all term for all lenses with more than one power, including bifocals.)

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Children and Computer Vision Syndrome

Computer use has become a routine part of kids’ lives.

Surveys show the average American child spends one to three hours daily on a computer while surfing the Internet, doing homework, talking online with friends and playing video games. About 90% of school-aged children in the U.S. have access to a computer at home or in school.

And kids are starting to use computers at a younger age. Among college students who were interviewed, 20% said they began using a computer before they were 9 years old.

A connection between computer use and myopia?

So how is all this computer use at a young age affecting kids’ eyes?

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Are Contact Lenses a Good Choice for Kids

A common question many parents have about contact lenses and kids is: “When is my child old enough to wear contact lenses?”

Physically, your child’s eyes can tolerate contact lenses at a very young age. Some babies are fitted with contact lenses due to eye conditions present at birth. And in a recent study that involved fitting nearsighted children of ages 8-11 with one-day disposable contact lenses, 90% had no trouble applying or removing the contacts without assistance from their parents.

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