Know the Important Facts of Monovision Contact Lenses

In the battle among multifocal, bifocal, and monofocal (also referred to as monovision) contact lenses, one viable lens still remains to be seen. When it comes to correcting presbyopia, these prior mentioned lenses are typically what presbyopic turn to, or at least what their eye practitioner recommend them to avail.

In this article, you will know some of the leverage of monovision contact lenses over the other lenses and how they are beneficial to the presbyopic users. 

Defining Monovision Contact Lenses

Monovision contact lenses are one of the, among the few, common ways to correct presbyopia. They are used to address the difficulty in changing focus between near and far. How it works is, one contact lens is prescribed for near vision and the other contact lens for distance.

What monovision contact lenses ultimately manage, if not alleviate, is the focusing problems that one experiences with the condition called presbyopia.

Monovision Fitting Process

As mentioned, the fitting process of monovision contact lens is very particular. You have to have your dominant eye and your other eye fitted with a contact lens for both far vision and near vision.

There are some cases that a prescription for distance is not needed. So what others do is they just opt for the near contact lenses instead.

For some, this method might seem a little skewed but what they don’t know is it actually works.

How is that? You might ask. That is because you will be grown accustomed to it. We get used to wearing a near and distance contact lens because that is what our dominant eye needs.  

Our dominant eye is the one that primarily focuses on an image. The non-dominant eye helps as well but the brain pays much more attention to visual information coming from the dominant eye.

The dominant eye has nothing to do with whether you’re right or left handed and it’s usually the eye used to looking through and at things. 

How to Determine the Dominant Eye

The most proven method of determining your dominant eye is the hole-in-the-hand trick.

How you do it is simple, first you hold out your arms fully extended straight in front of you with your palms facing away.

Next thing you do is bring your first fingers and thumbs together and in that way you are creating a small hole between your hands.

And with both eyes open, center a small, distant object in the middle of the hole.

Now, close your left eye and then your right eye. When you close your non-dominant eye the object will stay in the middle of the hole.

On the other hand, when you close your dominant eye, you will no longer be able to see the object.

So if you close an eye and the object stays in the same place and you can still see it through the hole then you are looking at it with your dominant eye.

Take note, the object should be situated far enough. It may not work if you it’s something that is just one reach away.    

When you are fit with monovision contact lenses, the doctor will always test which eye is dominant.

The dominant eye will be fitted with the distance contact lens. If the dominant eye was fit with a near lens, then the distance vision may be too blurred and the fit would not be successful.

Three Alternatives to Consider

A known fact that you can take into account is, monovision is not for everyone. For the simple reasons of inability to adapt to it.

This is why eye doctors usually recommend trying monovision with contact lenses first before committing to surgery for presbyopia correction.

If you are considering monovision, there are some risks that you have to know. You may lose some depth perception.

That’s because your one eye is focusing at one distance while the other is focused at another. In addition to this, you might want to reconsider using reading glasses.

In certain cases, such as reading small print, they are what you will be needing.

Monovision works because the brain is tricked into thinking that the contact lens is actually a part of the natural eye.

For this reason, monovision does not work in an eyeglass prescription for most of us. Although it takes a week or two to adapt to monovision, it beats reaching for reading glasses every time you want to read.

If monovision contact lens is not for you, here are three alternatives that you might want to consider trying: 

Computer Monovision

With computer monovision, a person will be able to see at the distance of a computer screen.

Most people who work on a computer daily enjoy this type of correction, although reading glasses may still be needed. Computer monovision is not generally recommended for people who like to do a lot of reading.

Modified Monovision

This type of monovision has the patient wear one contact lens that is bifocal on the weaker eye.

This lens is used for viewing objects that are close-up. Depth perception and distance vision are achieved by wearing a single-vision contact lens on the other eye. 

Monovision LASIK

Patients who have enjoyed monovision with their contact lenses may have success with monovision LASIK.

Monovision LASIK aims to achieve the same corrected vision that you receive from monovision contact lenses, without the contact lenses in your eyes.

In monovision LASIK, one eye is corrected for distance and the other for near. 

The LASIK surgery is performed directly on the cornea. Recovery and healing are usually quick.

Changes in vision are usually noticed right away. If you think you might like to try monovision LASIK, it’s a good idea to first make sure you are comfortable wearing monovision contact lenses.

Advantages of Monovision 

One of the most advantageous aspects of monovision is that it can be achieved using almost any contact lens on the market.

It is reported that some experiences of people with the regular contacts, though in variation, includes discomfort and drying of the eyes.

But with a monovision fit, it has much and way many more options that you can choose from.

With the exception from a custom multifocal toric lens, which is much more expensive and complicated and offers a reduced chance of success when it comes to correcting eye conditions, it is smart that you choose monovision if you have astigmatism and presbyopia.

Disadvantages of Monovision

While monovision allows you to view distance vision using only your one eye without any form of disruption.

However, this lens also comes with drawbacks. This includes compromise in your overall distance vision, even difficulty in seeing clearly at a close enough distance, such as looking at your computer screen.

In addition to that, some loss of depth perception, and even some suppression of vision out of the blurry eye.

If that’s the case for you, it is prescribed that you be extra careful when driving especially at night.

Glare from oncoming headlights is a common complaint, unless you wear eyeglasses simultaneously, providing distance correction for the near-corrected eye.

Presbyopics Can Look Into These Options

In addition to monovision contact lenses, eye doctors also address presbyopia with the following:

Bifocal Eyeglasses or Bifocals 

These are the most common solution, where a reading segment is incorporated into the primary lens of the eyeglass.

Progressive Glasses

Some glasses use corrective lenses (called progressive additional lenses, progressive power lenses or multifocal lenses) with a gradient of increasing power.

Multifocal Contact Lenses

These are contact lenses that, like bifocal or progressive eyeglasses, have multiple focal points.

Some are designed as bifocal contact lenses, where the eye shifts to view through a reading power; others are designed to allow the eye to look constantly through the center of the lens.

A prescription for reading glasses

They are to be worn over standard prescription contact lenses for normal (distance) viewing.

References:

https://www.contactlenses.org/multifocals.htm

https://www.lenspure.com/articles/7-things-need-to-know-monovision-contacts

https://www.aao.org/eye-health/treatments/what-is-monovision-blended-vision

https://www.mastereyeassociates.com/monovision-contact-lenses