Your eyes are delicate instruments. They allow you to see the world. Like your other senses, your sight is constantly in motion. Therefore, your eyes are always working, enabling you to see everything around you. However, as you age, your eye sight may waver, making it harder to see. Since the body changes approximately every seven years, sometime in your mid to late thirties or early forties, you may notice that your ability to see near or far distances may no longer be working properly. This may be the time to get reading glasses at your local pharmacy. However, if you are already wearing corrective lenses, it may be time for bifocals.
What are Bifocals?
Understanding why you may need bifocals (or trifocals) may be easier if you understand exactly what this terminology means. Bifocals are multifocal lenses. Multifocal lenses have two different prescriptions to help your eyes accomplish two different functions. The main lens is one prescription which typically helps you see distances. However, the bifocal lens is a section of the lens which has a different prescription to help you see objects that are near. They are essentially reading glasses built into your everyday prescription. Trifocals have a third lens which helps see a third point of focus, which is neither near or far, but intermediate. As opposed to past generations, you may have bifocals that look like a single focus lens, without the dividing lines associated with bifocals. These are known as progressive lenses.
How Bifocals Help
Bifocals ae often prescribed for two reasons which affect two distinct age groups. First, they may be prescribed for the patient that is over 40. This patient is experiencing presbyopia. This is a loss of the ability to focus on objects that are near to your face, such as a book or newspaper. Typically, this is a very normal occurrence as you age. As mentioned above, many people can simply purchase reading glasses and the problem is helped. However, if you already wear corrective lenses, you will receive your new prescription for bifocals with your next doctor’s visit.
On the opposite spectrum, young children may be prescribed bifocals due to myopia. This ailment is a refractive issue within the eye, causing near sightedness from birth. These individuals cannot see anything far away, but have no problem reading a book or seeing something close to their face. However, they often squint and experience headaches related to their vision issues. Bifocals are used to help them see both near and far with the same clarity.
Whether you are having more difficulty seeing things close to you as you age, or you always experienced the inability to see things far from you, bifocals may help your vision return to a relatively normal level, allowing you to enjoy your sense of sight one again. If you are looking for an eye doctor that you can trust, contact the experts at Rittenhouse Eye Associates at (215) 525-6821. Our team of experts will examine your eyes and help you determine if bifocals are right for you.
