Wednesday 26th June 2024

A DO's desk

"I am not sure about Varifocals - I have heard some people do not get on with them"* A common quote
Introduction
Varifocals are also known as Multifocals or Progressive lenses. The surface of these lenses has more than just one prescription and can be used for different visual working distances. In other words, these are lenses that can be worn to view Distance, Reading and Intermediate. There is no visible line on the lens, and it has the same appearance of any Single Vision lens.
When do you need Varifocals
Your Eye Care Practitioner (ECP) will do the test and recommend varifocals, if they feel that you have a prescription for Distance and for closer areas. For example, if you are short-sighted and you now have a separate reading number, then you have two options, either remove your short-sighted glasses to read near provided your distance number neutralises the reading number. Or if you do not want to be taking your glasses off, then having Varifocals may be the right step.
How are they made
Varifocals are lenses that have more than one surface powers. The way multiple surface powers are worked on the lens is by combining the prescriptions. This inevitably creates an effect where the points on the lens at which the numbers cross, the lens will not give a sharp vision. This could be called as surface astigmatism which is a type of higher order aberrations.
Adaptation
Seventy percent of patients enjoy these lenses and every two years on average they change them to the up-to-date eye test results. Only a few patients struggle with these lenses and in my experience, these happen to be Patients who have very good vision generally and do not use glasses for their distance vision, however their only requirement is to have glasses for near working distances.
If you have a prescription and your ECP has recommended that you wear glasses more often for driving and for close work, Varifocal lenses are certainly worth trying.
Varifocals in 2024
Have you heard the term Freeform? Manufacturers and designers have developed advanced manufacturing methods where the surface powers are formed independently and thereby reducing the blending effect. This results in reduced surface aberrations and gives the wearer the maximum comfort and much higher success rate.
But still on average we recommend taking 3 to 4 weeks to get used to these lenses. At Specsonweb, we give you 60 days to get used to these lenses, so you have one less thing to worry about.