Thought I’d pitch in here since it’s what I do all day, just a bit late to the party.
If you just need reading glasses then frankly that’s your best option in the first instance. The only issue is that if you look up you can’t see so multitasking is hard. In that instance a varifocal is your best option, not to try and improve your distance but rather not to make it worse.
It’s useful if you spend a lot of time in meetings/presentations etc but you would still treat them as your reading glasses.
Laser isn’t really useful in this instance as 99% are single vision corrections. In theory you could be lasered to allow you to read but then you’d need distance glasses!
There are some multifocal laser (and cataract/lens extraction) options. Ultimately this is where it will go but I’d argue not yet. My experience is that whilst you’ll probably manage both distance and reading without glasses your best vision won’t be as good as it could have been. Most importantly, its then very difficult to over correct with glasses afterwards, or later in time as things change, which they will gradually.
Tellingly I read an Ophthalmology paper recently about multifocal intraocular lenses and 75% of it was about patient selection. If you like sharp vision don’t do this. But it has to get better as it evolves.
Contact lenses are a similar principle but less permanent. You will always get better acuity of vision (versus soft lenses) with spectacles but often the advantages of no frame etc outweigh this. If I have 4 patients who have exactly the same needs and prescription, with soft multifocal lenses 1 will love it, great vsion across the board. The next 2 will be ok but aware they can get or have had sharper vision but that the flexibility wins through. The fourth will just say they can’t see a thing. Often we can prove them wrong but they are clearly very uncomfortable with that type of vision. The reason for this is how the lenses are designed and how an individual’s brain interprets this. There are several different designs of soft multifocal lenses as well as monovision (one eye for dist and the other for reading) so even if you have tried one doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying again. I often have a dozen lenses in for a patient and have them around town for a couple of hours trying different combinations before sending them away with whatever seems best.
I won’t comment on online sales. It’s a fact of life so you must weigh up the pros and cons and make your own decisions.
I think I’ve spotted one customer on this very thread so I must be doing something vaguely right.
Hope this has been of some use.
David
If you just need reading glasses then frankly that’s your best option in the first instance. The only issue is that if you look up you can’t see so multitasking is hard. In that instance a varifocal is your best option, not to try and improve your distance but rather not to make it worse.
It’s useful if you spend a lot of time in meetings/presentations etc but you would still treat them as your reading glasses.
Laser isn’t really useful in this instance as 99% are single vision corrections. In theory you could be lasered to allow you to read but then you’d need distance glasses!
There are some multifocal laser (and cataract/lens extraction) options. Ultimately this is where it will go but I’d argue not yet. My experience is that whilst you’ll probably manage both distance and reading without glasses your best vision won’t be as good as it could have been. Most importantly, its then very difficult to over correct with glasses afterwards, or later in time as things change, which they will gradually.
Tellingly I read an Ophthalmology paper recently about multifocal intraocular lenses and 75% of it was about patient selection. If you like sharp vision don’t do this. But it has to get better as it evolves.
Contact lenses are a similar principle but less permanent. You will always get better acuity of vision (versus soft lenses) with spectacles but often the advantages of no frame etc outweigh this. If I have 4 patients who have exactly the same needs and prescription, with soft multifocal lenses 1 will love it, great vsion across the board. The next 2 will be ok but aware they can get or have had sharper vision but that the flexibility wins through. The fourth will just say they can’t see a thing. Often we can prove them wrong but they are clearly very uncomfortable with that type of vision. The reason for this is how the lenses are designed and how an individual’s brain interprets this. There are several different designs of soft multifocal lenses as well as monovision (one eye for dist and the other for reading) so even if you have tried one doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying again. I often have a dozen lenses in for a patient and have them around town for a couple of hours trying different combinations before sending them away with whatever seems best.
I won’t comment on online sales. It’s a fact of life so you must weigh up the pros and cons and make your own decisions.
I think I’ve spotted one customer on this very thread so I must be doing something vaguely right.
Hope this has been of some use.
David