Eye & Contact Lens Factsheets

CORRECTING READING VISION THE MONO-VISION WAY!

This fact sheet is to introduce you to the concept of MONO-VISION. Virtually all of us some time between 40 and 50 begin to find our arms aren't long enough and reading becomes more difficult and the eyes more strained. This is particularly noticeable the closer the working distance and the smaller the print being observed.

If a person has absolutely normal distance vision and has not previously needed glasses then usually a simple pair of glasses, often incorporating a small astigmatism correction, will be needed just on those occasions when reading or other close tasks are undertaken.

If the person is already a spectacle or Contact Lens wearer then a supplementary prescription incorporating assistance for reading will be necessary. For the existing spectacle wearer this is most often provided in the form of bifocal specs, varifocal specs or in some circumstances two different pairs of glasses although of course these are more of a nuisance.

So how do we cope with reading vision in the case of a Contact Lens wearer?

Rigid Bifocal Lenses made from perspex were first fitted in the late 1950's and there are now many different designs available including conventional "segment" types (just like spectacle lenses) and "annular" lenses where a small central circular area gives distance of reading vision with the outside giving the other range. Since then numerous other designs have been produced both in Flexible Oxygen Permeable materials and Soft Oxygen Permeable materials.

Despite this many Opticians, even those who actively fit Contact Lenses, don't fit Bifocals. The result is that, once needing reading glasses, patients are either told they need to stop wearing Contact Lenses and revert to bifocal glasses or have a pair of reading glasses or half eyes over their Contact Lenses. Where for technical or clinical reasons Bifocals are not advocated the use of the mono-vision principal is frequently utilised.

In MONO-VISION we usually use the dominant, or most used eye, for distance vision with the other being corrected for reading using two simple single vision lenses. Although to some this may seem unusual the system generally works extremely well after just a short period of adaptation. The time needed to teach the picture receiving areas of the brain "new tricks" is actually usually less than that needed to adapt to Bifocal glasses or Contacts.
Specialist Contact Lens Practitioners have regularly corrected for distance and reading with MONO-VISION since the 1950's so the system is very well proven. Some patients thinking it unusual express apprehension that it could harm their eyes. The millions who today enjoy completely spectacle free vision using MONO-VISION will testify how simple, easy and strain free it really is - they will also confirm how much cheaper it is than having Bifocal Contacts.

ADAPTATION - THE SECRET!

When you collect your new correction simply pop the lenses in and FORGET THEM! Don't compare vision from eye to eye by closing one then the other. The brain is being given two different pictures - it will quickly learn to concentrate on the one sharpest for whatever you need at anyone time.