The man behind the invention of bifocal glasses is Benjamin Franklin, who did so in the beginning of the 18th century. The very first eyeglasses were invented way back in the 13th century, which contained convex lenses for magnifying objects, so that it could be more clearly seen by the one wearing them. These glasses were widely used for the correction of farsightedness.
The concave lenses were invented in the 14th century, which were used for the correction of nearsightedness. Benjamin Franklin suffered from both. While traveling, when he would feel the need to read, he would have to sway eyeglasses continuously, since he used concave lenses. At that time, lenses were just shaped like a semi-moon at the bottom of the glasses, unlike today. For eliminating his difficulty, he combined those into one lens – the top half for clearly seeing things which were distant, and the lower half for seeing things nearby. Bifocal glasses are simply those glasses which correct two problems relating to vision, and not just one.
Today, a lot of people who wear corrective lenses use bifocal glasses. There have been many people who wore single lens glasses and were comfortable with it, but with age, they found the need to switch over to bifocals. It is kind of difficult to adjust with the bifocals if you are new to it, but there is no other alternative for correction of two vision problems apart from wearing two pairs of eyeglasses for each of them. Irrespective of whether you sport single-lens or bifocals, you can buy those from home, and save a lot as compared to buying them from an optician as well.
It is, however, very important that prior to ordering the glasses, you should get a recent lens’ prescription by an ophthalmologist. With the passage of time, vision power changes as well. Prescription for the eyeglasses should be updated at least once a year. After having that, you can simply log on to the internet and order one. You must get the proper measurements for your frame. The retailers over the net sell good quality glasses at a lower cost, thus making it affordable for everyone having vision problems to have a pair of glasses for its correction.
Since you can clear your vision, bifocals are very good for you. If wearing for the first time, you may experience the following problems:
o Adjusting with them will be difficult, but you’ll get used to it with constant usage
o If you look from the bottom part of the glasses, objects may look closer than they really are
Most of the computer users find bifocals immensely useful, since they continuously change their focus. Few people get a headache on using bifocals, but that scenario will wear out with the passage of time. You may want to hold the glass a little farther than what you normally do. It is suggested that after reading, you shift attention to some farther objects since it will break the constant looking at nearby objects which will help your eyes a lot in the long run.