Wearing Eyeglasses With Contacts

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mykal - 22 Oct 2005 23:50 GMT

I've done a little Internet searching around, and so far found no
information on the idea of wearing contacts and eyeglasses at the same time.

After ten years since the onset of middle age in my life, I am now compelled
to use prescription lenses. OTC reading glasses just don't make it anymore.
I'm far sighted, have an astigmatism, and have developed presbyopia to where
I simply must wear glasses to read or work with things up close. Now with
years of experience with taking care of cheap OTC glasses, and with eyes
that need something better, I'm ready to own some quality prescription
eyewear. Anyway, I'm thinking that contacts that corrected for my
astigmatism and hyperopia would be best for my outdoor activities, while a
supplemental pair of bifocals would serve for providing for good visual
acuity for up-close work and detailed focusing at intermediate ranges.

To be clear, I'm thinking that a good idea for my needs would be to wear
contacts all day. Additional to the contacts when needed, I'd wear
eyeglasses that provide a boost for adapting to presbyopia so I can read
fine print and have a clearer intermediate focus.

So my question goes something like this: Do people use contacts and
prescription eyeglasses at the same time?

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Quick - 23 Oct 2005 00:40 GMT

> So my question goes something like this: Do people use
> contacts and prescription eyeglasses at the same time?

I believe there are a lot of solutions.

1) Soft contacts
They have various types of bi/multi focal soft contacts.
You might be happy with a monovision solution where they
do your near rx in the non-dominant eye and distance in the
dominant. Or a modified mono vision approach using maybe
a near centered multifocal in the non-dominant eye and a
distance centered multifocal in the dominant eye.

I think I've heard of a soft, translating bifocal -- the kind that
looks/works like bifocal glasses. When you look down the
contact rides up and you are looking through the near segment
at the bottom of the lens.

2) Hard contacts
True aspheric multifocals, multifocals with concentric
rings of near and far, -- pretty much anything they do with soft
contacts and a number of translating bifocal options. There is
even a translating trifocal that I'm trying.

3) Single vision contacts with glasses as you describe.
I'm not sure if multi-vision or bifocal contacts would work
very well glasses. You might try single vision contacts
with progressive glasses that are pretty much plano on
the distance RX.

See a doc who does a good bit of all three to explore
the possibilities best suited to your eyes, RX, and application.

-Quick

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mykal - 23 Oct 2005 02:07 GMT

> 3) Single vision contacts with glasses as you describe.
> I'm not sure if multi-vision or bifocal contacts would work
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> -Quick

Single vision contacts to correct for hyperopia, complemented by
progressive-lens glasses "that are pretty much plano on the distance RX" is
something I'm thinking about. For outdoor activities like cycling, all I
need is correction of my hyperopia, and contacts present a number of desired
advantages over glasses for my outdoors activities.

To have vision adequate for all my needs, however, I need trifocal
correction. By using single vision contacts with progressive glasses, I can
effectively have trifocal viewing with the glasses on, while being much
better able to go without prescription glasses when doing something like
riding my bike.

That just leaves the issue of astigmatism, but if that's too big of a
problem I'll just continue to ignore it. My astigmatism is mild.

-Mykal

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