Reasoning for Bifocals on Glasses

How Bifocals Came to Be

You may already know that Benjamin Franklin is responsible for the existence of bifocals. Prior to his invention around 1760, the convex and concave lenses (farsighted and nearsighted lenses respectively) were worn separately.

In fact, convex lenses used to correct farsightedness came along nearly 300 years before the concave lenses to correct nearsightedness did. Franklin just took the two, almost 200 years after the concave lenses were designed for near vision, and created an eyeglass that housed both types.

The Reasoning for Bifocals on Glasses

As mentioned earlier, the reason for having bifocals is to allow you to see up close with ease. If you have to wear eyeglasses for reading signs, watching television, driving, or other activities where the ability to see at a distance is required, you'll thank your lucky stars for your bifocals.

If you didn't have bifocals, you'd have to take off one pair of glasses to replace them with a pair of readers every time you needed to shift from viewing something at a distance to looking at something up close. What a hassle!

Types of Bifocals

Round bifocals are actually half moon shapes that are flat on the bottom. They're nearly obsolete but you may be able to order them through small optical shops if they're your preference.

Straight Top bifocals come in 28 and 35 mm sizes and are fairly standard, if old-fashioned as well. Some prefer these and find them easier to adjust to once they get over seeing the line when they look down. Your vision will jump from your prescription for distance vision and near vision.

Progressives are the newest kids on the block, and they're lineless. Nobody will know you're wearing bifocals (important for those who are worried about looking young), and your prescription will gradually shift from your distance prescription to your near prescription.

Any of these lenses will suit your needs for:

• Keeping your eyewear needs simple—you won't have to juggle your glasses depending on your vision needs (especially if you wear photochromic lenses because then you'll have your sunglasses too).

• Safety, since you won't have to switch your glasses to read a map, read your speedometer, or read road signs while driving.

Both are good reasons to choose bifocals for your glasses.

Bifocal Sunglasses

Bifocal sunglasses are excellent picks for driving glasses and for a relaxing day in the sun with a book (beach trip, perhaps?). How many times have you been driving and attempting to read a map at the same time? It would be unsafe to try to switch your eyeglasses between looking at the road, your speedometer, and the map. It would also be cumbersome if you always had to pull over to consult your maps.

If you don't normally wear eyeglasses for driving, you may want to consider one of three options:

• Prescription bifocals with no prescription in the top parts of the lenses, tinted for your preferences.
• Glasses similar to those above but with a gradient tint, darker at the top and close to clear at the bottom.
• Reading sunglasses, but you'll have to take them on and off or wear them on the end of your nose so that you can see over their tops to drive.

So one other reasoning for bifocals on glasses is safety while driving, or doing anything else that requires a considerable amount of concentration, as well as near and far vision.

Adapting to Bifocals

If you're used to single vision lenses or no eyeglasses at all, getting used to bifocals may take you up to a week. If it takes longer, you may want to have the glasses checked out again at the optical shop where you bought them just to verify that they're the right prescription and fitted appropriately for your face. Sometimes—especially with progressive lenses—adjusting the frame even a millimeter will make a world of difference. Don’t try tweaking them yourself right off the bat, though. If you're inexperienced when it comes to adjusting eyeglass frames, you could damage them easily.

Bifocals on glasses are worth it for correcting near and far vision in the simplest, safest, least cumbersome manner possible.