If you are in the market for a pair of multifocal glasses, you have many options available to you. The first thing to determine is how many focal points you need. For instance a bifocal means “two points of focus” and a trifocal means “three points of focus”. There’s also a new player in the multifocal market today and those are called progressive lenses. They don’t offer a simple to understand two or three points of focus as the traditional glasses do but rather an entire range with as many focal points as 20 in a single lens.
First, you must understand the different viewing distances associated with multifocal glasses. The two that bifocals account for are a close distance, like reading a book, and far away. Trifocals take it one step further adding an intermediate range for a medium viewing distance. A perfect example as to what qualifies as medium is working on your computer. Bifocals and trifocals incorporate two or three separate lenses, each with their own level of magnification. By looking through the lens in a specific area, you can choose the magnification that suits your situation correctly. Also, a lot of progress has been made in eliminating the lines that used to make bifocals and trifocals apparent to someone who sees them. Some prefer this simple “on-off” approach to the magnification change while it bothers others.
The newest technology that’s starting to become a standard alternative to bifocals and trifocals in the market share for multifocal glasses are progressive lenses. Although a bit more complicated on the design side, many people find these types of lenses a lot more comfortable and easier to use in everyday life. Instead of two or three distinct differences in magnification, a progressive lens is almost continually variable across the lens face. Outside of the elimination of lines, which make them more cosmetically appealing, they have so many focal points that it leads to a more true vision correction solution.
If you need multifocal glasses there are plenty of options out there for you. Be sure to take this need into consideration when choosing frames as well to be sure they’ll accommodate a multifocal lens. Since these lenses tend to be larger to ensure a usable amount of the lens can be applied to a certain magnification, this may eliminate some choices. With so many frame choices out there today, though, you’ll surely have no problem finding another frame that will make you happy.