I always notice that the Multifocal
contact lens wearers are more likely to have issues with their lenses. I have to tell you that multifocal
contacts are not for the faint of heart, but with great trials and tribulations comes great rewards.
First - The most important thing for a doctor or staff member at the office to address with any patient is going to be the expectations. Keep in mind that
contact lenses on average are a 14mm area where the manufacturers have to fit 2 different prescriptions and of that 14mm only about 8-9mm that will be the optical area of the lens, so the lenses are not really designed to give you super perfect vision (if their is a such thing). They are designed to help a person get good vision at the distance and good vision at the near as opposed to great vision in distance and near.
Second - Each manufacturer has a different design and exploits various physiological and optical conditions to create the reading area. For instance some designs focus all the reading in a small spot in the center of the lens surrounded by distance prescription on the outside. This design exploits the physiological condition in which the pupils constrict when looking at objects close up causeing the rays of light entering from the periphery of the lens to be blocked and the inside reading portion to come through. Another design, takes into consideraton that when reading most people will drop their gaze and the lens will ride slightly higher on the cornea so they employ an aspheric design which changes the power towards the outside of the lens so that when the lens rides high the gaze is through the periphery of the lens which is the reading. Their are a few other designs that I won't bore you with but the idea is that of the many designs their is no magic bullet, so the doctor may want to try on multiple lenses before he/she is satisfyed with the vision.
Third - Timely follow-up visits are important, the doctor or contact lens technician fitting these lenses will more than likely have a plan of action and will have a tough fit like a multi-focal lens at the front of their mind. As a patient you need to exploit that by getting to your follow-up visits in a prompt manner so that the fitter can quickly asses and put the plan into action. It is far to easy for a fitter to forget exactly what the plan was, when the patient reschedules the appointments around alot and their is always another more demanding case that will quickly take up the fitters time and mind. By making it to the first few follw-up visits in a timely manner you exploit freshness of your fit and the doctor/fitter has the opportunity to remember first had all the nuances of your case that may not be appropriate to jot down in a chart that will make the doctor/fitter better handle your case.
And the last thing to remember goes right back to the first thing, they are not going to be perfect, so the vision may or may not be as crisp as a pair of
glasses or single vision contact lenses, but they will provide you with the best possible vision through contact lens with the current technology and most will find that this is the reward they have been waiting for.
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03-09-2007, 03:39 PM
Clear Up any Misconceptions
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