The Disadvantages of Bifocal Contact Lenses

Contact lenses allow you to enjoy clear vision without having to wear unsightly or restrictive eyeglasses. But for many people, vision worsens with age, making reading glasses a necessity. After recent advancements in eye care technology, bifocal contacts are an option for those who need help seeing both far away and nearby. There are some disadvantages to these lenses, though.

Cost

• Bifocal contact lenses address a more specific, complicated need than ordinary contact lenses, so they generally cost more. Prices vary depending on the brand and the durability of the lenses, but a year-long supply of bifocal lenses could run into the hundreds of dollars.

Vision Quality

• Bifocal lenses address a variety of sight needs by offering generally acceptable vision quality in a wide range of situations and lighting. While lenses that address only near-sightedness or far-sightedness maximize vision quality, bifocal lenses need to be more utilitarian. As a result, you may find that while bifocal contact lenses let you see fairly well in a number of situations, they do not offer excellent vision quality in any particular situation.

Fitting

• An eye care professional must calibrate your bifocal contact lenses to your own eye size and shape, must adjust the lens to adequately display quality images both far away and up close. As a result, getting the right fit for these contacts can be an arduous and time-consuming process. The eye doctor will need to make a series of adjustments to the lenses to accommodate these variables. You may need to schedule multiple visits before your contacts perform ideally.