Two of the most common contact lens prescriptions prescribed 
for people today are for the eye conditions of presbyopia and 
astigmatism. Modern technology has made bifocal and toric 
contact lens designs available in both the rigid gas permeable 
(RGP) lenses and the soft lenses, offering more options and 
wear schedules then ever before.

Only a small percentage of people prefer the rigid gas permeable 
lenses to the soft contacts. The reason being that the RGP lenses 
retain their shape over the cornea more successfully than do the 
soft lenses, and are said to provide crisper vision to people 
with the eye condition astigmatism. However the majority of 
people prefer the soft lenses as they come in more choices and 
take less time to adjust to .

Presbyopia is a condition that occurs as the eye’s lens grows 
older and starts to lose some of its elasticity, which is needed 
to switch focus between viewing near and far objects. About one 
hundred million Americans experience this common eye condition. 
Presbyopia affects most people between the ages of forty and 
fifty, and is a natural part of the aging process. Once 
presbyopia begins, your vision will continue to change, so that 
regular eye exams by your eyecare practitioner will be a part 
of life. As your eye’s lens looses more elasticity, the eye will 
take longer to adjust between objects, an example being between 
the road and the speedometer. Bifocal eyeglasses used to be the 
only option for people with the condition, but today there are 
many bifocal contact lenses in a variety of convenient and 
comfortable designs.

The most obvious sign that you’re developing presbyopia is the 
need to hold any reading material, like the newspaper or a book, 
further away from you eyes in order focus and see clearly.

The way bifocal contact lenses work is very similar to bifocal 
eyeglasses. The contacts have two separate powers on one lens; 
one to correct distance vision and the other to correct near 
vision if this is the prescription that is needed. There are a 
couple of different design options for the bifocal lenses. One 
of the designs works similar to how the bifocal eyeglasses work 
with two obvious prescriptions separated with a line (the 
distance vision on the top and the near vision at the bottom). 
The other design works somewhat like a progressive eyeglass 
lens, having the two different prescriptive powers blended 
on different parts of the lens, forcing your eyes to learn 
to differentiate the correct power for the correct distance.

The wonderful thing about bifocal contact lenses is the 
convenience they offer. Contact lenses are so thinly designed 
that the wearer doesn’t even know they are there. Contact lenses 
eliminate the barriers that eyeglasses provide with the line of 
vision from below, above and the sides of the eyes, allowing for 
great peripheral vision with the hassle and image distortion 
sometimes cause by bifocal eyeglasses.

There are three different designs for the bifocal contact 
lenses, concentric, simultaneous and alternating vision. The 
concentric designed lenses have one power centered in the lens 
and the other surrounding it, for example the distance power may 
be in the center of the lens with the near power surrounding it, 
or the other way around. The simultaneous vision lenses contain 
both the near and distance prescriptions centered on the pupil, 
your eyes learn to adjust to the proper power depending on what 
your looking and focusing on. Lastly the alternating vision 
works similar to the bifocal lenses separated by a line with 
one power at the top of the lens and the other power at the 
bottom.

There are people who have difficulty adjusting to the bifocal 
contact lenses and for this reason they may not be the lenses 
for some people. It does take time for the eye to adjust to the 
two different powers within the lenses, with exactly how much 
time to adjust varying from person to person. It’s important 
not to give up right away and give the lenses a chance, as some 
people take longer than others to get used to the lenses.

If however you are unable to see clearly with the lenses, your 
eyecare practitioner may recommend the monovision lenses. With 
these particular lenses, one contact is worn with one power to 
correct the distance vision with the other lens correcting the 
near vision. Some people adapt to these lenses immediately. If 
having to wear bifocal lenses for the first time and your 
concerned about what will work best, your eyecare practitioner 
may have some free-trial programs in place allowing you to try 
out different lenses before deciding on a particular pair.

Astigmatism is the most common of vision problems, and may be 
accompanied by nearsightedness (hyperopia) or farsightedness 
(myopia). The cause of astigmatism is an irregularly shaped 
cornea, which can be corrected with toric contact lenses. Until 
recently soft contact lenses were not available for astigmatism 
correction, but fortunately toric contact lenses are now made in 
disposable, frequent replacement, multifocal and colored lenses 
(there may be some complex prescriptions that are not available 
in the soft lenses). Toric contact lenses come in both soft and 
rigid gas permeable (RGP) designs.

Toric lenses are created with two powers in them, one for 
astigmatism and the other for myopia or hyperopia. Toric lenses 
contain a ballast system (bottom of lens is thicker), which 
keeps the contact in one position. The cost of toric contact 
lenses is more expensive than regular contact lenses, as the 
fitting procedure for torics is more extensive; the lenses 
are also more expensive than regular lenses.

Toric contact lenses come in many options, your eyecare 
practitioner will help you select the lenses with the best 
compatibility for your specific eyes. Multifocal toric contacts 
offer correction for presbyopia and astigmatism; these lenses 
are available in soft and RGP varieties, the rigid gas permeable 
lenses being the recommended of the two.

Contact lenses are a convenient and healthy way to treat your 
eye vision problems. Both presbyopia and astigmatism correction 
can be easily achieved with a small adjustment period, without 
the inconvenience of eyeglasses. A visit to your eyecare 
practitioner can assist you with the lens choice and replacement 
schedule best suited for you.