Your Guide to Bifocal, Trifocal and Multifocal Lenses

Have you observed the need to hold your phone, books, and restaurant menus further away from your eyes in order to enhance their legibility?

Presbyopia is the most prevalent reason why most adults start wearing spectacles. The condition typically develops over time, commencing around age 40, and is regarded as a normal consequence of ageing.

Presbyopia affects the ability to focus on near objects, such as words on a page, phone numbers, or computer text. In a juvenile eye, the flexible lens within the eye is capable of focusing on both nearby and distant objects. However, this lens thickens and becomes rigid as you age, impairing your near vision.

If you already wear glasses for distance vision, your doctor will likely prescribe you a pair of bifocals or multifocals so that you can continue to see clearly at all distances.

Bifocal and multifocal lenses for eye focusing issues.

In most cases, bifocal and multifocal lenses are prescribed for adults with presbyopia. However, in some cases, these lenses may be prescribed for eye teaming or focusing difficulties that cause eye strain when reading.

In these instances, the bottom segment of the lens reduces eye strain by facilitating the focusing skills required for reading.

In addition, research indicates that donning bifocals or multifocals may slow the progression of myopia by relieving strain on the focusing muscles.

How do bifocal lenses work?

Bifocal lenses contain two optical powers to provide clear near and far vision.

The lens is divided into two segments; the upper segment contains the prescription for distance vision, while the bottom segment contains the prescription for near vision. In addition, some bifocals have a horizontal line that divides the two lens powers.

What are trifocal lenses?

Trifocals contain three optical powers: distance, intermediate, and near vision, delineated by two segmenting lines. The intermediate segment is located above the segment for near vision and aids in observing objects at arm’s length, such as a computer monitor or vehicle dashboard.

Trifocal lenses may be useful for individuals who require three distinct vision corrections, but they are not commonly prescribed due to their unfavourable segmenting lines.

What are the characteristics of multifocal lenses?

Multifocal lenses are comparable to bifocals, but they contain multiple lens powers to provide vision at all distances, including near, intermediate, and far, as well as any other lens power required for clear vision.

Multifocals are more appealing than bifocals because the lens powers are progressively blended without a dividing line. Multifocal lenses may have a restricted visible zone for each portion of the lens.

Three distinct varieties of multifocal lenses exist: