Vision 'Without' Glasses or Contact Lenses

Who can wear bifocal contact lenses? Can your eyes remain crossed, and can your eyes heal themselves? Learn the answers!

New Gas Permeable Multi-Focal Contact Lenses give more people an opportunity to be eye glass free without damaging their eyes with laser surgery.

Telescopic glasses are among the latest of the numerous low vision aids used to help people in dealing with macular degeneration symptoms. While there is no cure for age related macular degeneration (AMD), there are macular degeneration treatments available that can assist such patients in maximizing what sight they do have; telescopic glasses are possibly among the most effective, both in terms of cost and effectiveness.

In some ways, these remarkable devices – also known as bioptics – are similar to bifocal reading glasses. They essentially work the same way; patients utilize these macular degeneration devices by tilting their heads forward. These particular macular degeneration devices are different however in their construction. Unlike bifocal reading glasses, which integrate two different prescriptions into single lenses, telescopic glasses actually consist of miniature telescopes that sit atop the frames.

The marvelous aspect of telescopic glasses – also known as bioptics – is the fact that they can be adjusted in the same way as many full-sized telescopes. As low vision aids for the relief of macular degeneration symptoms, telescopic glasses can be adjusted for a variety of activities requiring far, mid-range and near vision.

In fact, some states actually allow those who cannot pass the eye test for driving to operate a motor vehicle as long as bioptics are used. While there are usually restrictions, the use of telescopic glasses can help the patient to regain some measure of independence. These low vision aids are of great help in seeing road signs and other objects on the highway.

Telescopic glasses are like regular glasses, and if you plan on driving with them, you’ll need an optometrist’s prescription. Even if you’re not planning to operate an automobile (and admittedly, this is not appropriate for everyone – or even very many – people with macular degeneration symptoms), the use of these remarkable low vision aids can greatly add to your quality of life.

With the use of bioptics, people who use such macular degeneration devices can once again enjoy watching television and motion pictures, engage in artistic pursuits such as sculpture and painting or music requiring reading, and engage in their favorite sports.

Of course, because macular degeneration symptoms affect one’s central vision and because different activities in life require different kinds of vision, there is no one single solution. Bioptics are only one part of a comprehensive solution that will most likely require several different types of macular degeneration devices. Only your optometrist can advise you as to which of these prosthetic devices can be of most good in helping your particular case.

As is the case for prescription bifocal reading glasses, you will need to be examined by and have a prescription from a qualified optometrist in order to make sure that bifocal reading glasses are right for you.

Low vision devices include eyeglasses, but there are many more low vision products available today that can assist patients in living with macular degeneration symptoms. While laser surgery can be used to treat the “wet” variety of age-related
macular degeneration, or AMD, there is no known cure for the “dry” form of this leading cause of blindness. However, low vision devices can help such a victim in making the most of what eyesight remains.

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) affects the central part of the retina, and therefore one’s ability to determine fine details such as print, faces, and images. Essentially, one develops a “hole” in one’s vision; if the subject is looking at an object that appears smaller than this “hole,” the object cannot be seen clearly. Therefore, the purpose of low vision devices is to increase the apparent size of these objects.

Because we use our eyes in different ways in different situations, there is no one solution for addressing macular degeneration symptoms. One patient may require several different low vision products. Bifocal reading glasses are one of the best known and most common low vision devices, but may not be appropriate for all macular degeneration symptoms.

Bioptic glasses for low vision, also known as bioptic telescopes, are low vision devices that actually consist of miniature telescopes mounted atop a pair of regular glasses. Such low vision devices can be adjusted for a wide range of activities that require both distance and near vision. While
bioptic glasses for low vision work in the same way (you tilt your head forward slightly), they differ from bifocal reading glasses in that the telescopic lens is not integrated into the primary lens itself.

Other low vision products for age related macular degeneration include such products as the portable digital magnifier, which resembles “virtual reality” goggles and is used in conjunction with a special pair of glasses. One of the most interesting low vision products on the market today consists of a miniature TV camera that actually rests on the surface of whatever the patient is reading, magnifies it, and sends that image electronically, projecting an image on the inner surfaces of eyeglass lenses! Such a system allows the patient’s head to remain in an upright position; no longer is it necessary to tilt one’s head.

Of course, such high-tech vision aids are quite expensive at the present. However, if the history of other technologies such as the PC and the DVD is any indicator, the cost of such low vision devices should come down substantially over the next few years.

Presbyopia is a vision condition in which they eyes are not able to focus clearly on near objects. It usually begins after the age of about forty when the lenses in the eye start reducing in flexibility. Presbyopia affects around 90 million adults in the USA alone and about one in four patients passing through an optometrist’s door will suffer from it.

Symptoms of presbyopia include difficulty in reading, difficulty in seeing in low lighting conditions and, occasionally, headaches.

Traditionally these vision problems were addressed with the old-fashioned reading glasses. Or existing eyeglass wearers could opt for bifocal eyeglasses. However the use of modern contact lenses for use with presbyopia has some distinct advantages beyond their cosmetic appeal. For example they can be well suited to other aspects of a wearer’s lifestyle such as sporting activities, exercising or using a computer.

Recently, contact lenses for correcting presbyopia have become available in more convenient types such as disposable or frequent replacement varieties. Today these are very popular lens types providing obvious benefits for the wearer.

HOW CONTACT LENSES CORRECT PRESBYOPIA

From a technical perspective, there are three distinct ways by which contact lenses can be used to correct presbyopia, each with advantages and disadvantages for particular types of patient. But the important thing here is that there is a choice and each wearer is likely to find one method best suited to their unique situation. The different contact lens methods are as follows:

MONOVISION

The monovision technique involves using in one eye a lens for seeing near objects and in the other eye a lens for seeing distant objects. Many people find that monovision works very well for them. It relies on the brain’s ability to selectively process and combine information from the best available sources in order to provide the clearest possible vision. In some instances, the optometrist might employ a bifocal lens in one eye and a normal distance lens in the other. The main problem associated with monovision is the apparent loss of depth of vision for some patients.

BIFOCAL CONTACT LENSES

As with traditional bifocal eyeglasses, each lens in bifocal contact lenses possesses two powers — one for seeing near objects, the other for distant objects. Some types of bifocal lenses when magnified look a little like a bull’s eye with an central inner zone surrounded by the outer zone. The drawback to this type of lens is that in certain conditions of reduced lighting, the vision might not always be as sharp in certain areas.

MULTIFOCAL CONTACT LENSES

Multifocal contact lenses work very much like the progressive lenses for eyeglasses. These lenses possess several zones of differing power in order to assist the eye gradually as it changes its focus on different objects at different distances. Therefore these lenses are designed to function well for seeing near, intermediate and distant objects. Their drawbacks are typically the same as for bifocal contact lenses, with occasional loss of visual acuity.

Bifocal lenses are available in two basic design types, ‘Translating’ and ‘Simultaneous’, the essential characteristics of which are as follows:

TRANSLATING BIFOCAL LENSES

Another name for the translating lens type is an ‘alternating lens’. Gas Permeable bifocal lenses are regularly of this type. Their usage is very much like that of traditional bifocal eyeglasses. The wearer will look through one zone for distance vision then ‘translate’ to look through the other zone for near vision. Both zones aren’t looked through at the same time.

SIMULTANEOUS BIFOCAL LENSES

The majority of soft bifocal contact lenses on the market are of the ’simultaneous’ type. As the name implies, with simultaneous lenses the wearer actually looks through the various powers of the lenses at the same time. What happens is that the brain steps in and ‘suppresses’ the power or powers, which aren’t needed at that particular time in order to see clearly. There exist further subdivisions of this lens type, but we won’t go into the details in this brief overview.

As with all contact lens selection and wear, choosing the right type of bifocal lens depends equally as much upon the wearer’s unique lifestyle as his unique vision characteristics. For example a patient who regularly undertakes sporting activities will have different needs from one who only needs to wear them socially or for use at work.

However, the success of adopting bifocal contact lenses relies very much on the expectations of the wearer who should realize that, almost by definition, bifocal lenses are very much a compromise and that he or she is never going to regain the acuity of vision in all environments that they had when younger. In most cases this is perfectly acceptable and bifocal lenses have now earned their place in the optometrist’s ever-expanding repertoire.