This is where one eye has a near-focus prescription and the other eye has the distance prescription. Your brain then decides which eye to use for what and blends things together for mid-distance. Some people adapt very easily to this, others\u2014like me\u2014notice the \u201cwrong bits\u201d more than the right ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multifocal lenses<\/strong> Each make and model uses its own geometry, optical layout, and balance between near and distance clarity, which is why fitting multifocals can take a fair bit of trial and error. Your brain then learns to select the bits it needs and suppress the rest, ideally merging everything into a usable image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve spent the past few weeks trying various combinations. I started with multifocals and soon got the hang of putting them in and taking them out. They were OK, but I had some double vision and nothing was pin-sharp at any distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The optician thought my dominant and non-dominant eye might be reversed, so that was swapped, and I was given some monovision lenses to try. I just couldn\u2019t get on with them. Nothing was in focus, and instead of using the part that was supposed to be clearest, my brain seemed to latch onto the bits that weren\u2019t. It focused on the problems rather than ignoring them, so I didn\u2019t persist \u2014 but at least it confirmed that monovision isn\u2019t for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, it was back to multifocals with the prescriptions tweaked and the dominance swapped again. These worked OK for mid-distance, but distance vision was quite blurry, and close-up intricate work was impossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My prescription has been tweaked yet again, and next I\u2019ll be trying another pair of multifocals as we attempt to home in on the perfect setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be nice to get it sorted, but so far it\u2019s been far from perfect. Just as I think we\u2019re getting somewhere, I take a pair out, put my glasses back on, and realise how much worse my eyesight has been with the contacts. At the moment, glasses are still better at every distance, which is frustrating. Putting them on makes everything clearer, sharper, and larger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I feel a bit as though I\u2019m messing the optician about by trying so many different combinations, and the more I try, the more I wonder if I\u2019ll ever find the right solution. I\u2019m beginning to think that maybe I need a different type of multifocal lens? O, maybe I\u2019m just too sensitive to imperfections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yes, I\u2019m getting older, and I\u2019ve been wearing glasses for a while now. I need varifocal lenses as I can\u2019t be bothered to carry more than one pair around or keep swapping between them. My distance vision isn\u2019t too bad but does need a little help, while my near vision needs quite a boost these...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1312,"featured_media":47487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1694],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\n
These are more complicated. Rather than giving one job to each eye, both eyes get lenses that contain multiple focal distances at once<\/em>. There are actually several designs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Contacts.jpg\")