I just got a eye exam a few weeks ago. I am farsighted and opted for contacts. Problem is I can now see well up close but things a little blurry at a distance and get worse as dusk or dark to the point that its very hard to drive. The Doc says that's the way it is, I can't have good vision up close and at a distance both? Is this true or should I look for a new Doc? These are the contacts that he had me try' Progressive Focus Visitint +1.50 8.6 14.0
Thank you

How old are you? Do you wear the contacts in both eyes? Does the blurry vision at night keep you from driving or is it glare from lights?

Can you tilt your head up or down slightly and see differently? I have progressive lenses and have to look straight ahead for far vision and slightly down for near vision.

47 years old , contacts in both eyes , always had a little trouble with headlight glare but this is different. With contacts my up close visin is fine ,Distance is always slightly blurry but at night it is much worse. Never had this problem until I got contacts Thanks

Usually around your age people develop presbyopia. Which is when we lose the ability to focus or squint to see far/ or hold things close to read. Have you tried using a contact in only one eye and using it for near, and the other eye for distance? That is called Mono vision. Some people like it, while others cannot adapt to it. If you wear reading glasses and take them off to see far is your distance vision OK then? Also, Night driving can sometimes be affected by dry eyes or cataracts. Do you know if you have either of those? I hope this helps.

Tried the mono vision for 5 days and just couldn't do it. I can take reading glasses off and my distance is fine. No cateracts but do have dry eyes and use drops. Guess my question is, should my vision be able to be corrected for reading with contacts and not affect my distance? Thanks

I don't think contacts for near only will help unless you try bifocal contacts. In my experience it would just blur your distance vision, like it seems to be doing. I would contact the Dr. that perscribed them and see what they recommend. Using artificial tears can never hurt. JUst make sure its not Clear eyes, or visine that states "get the red out" They do not help the problem.

I'm using Bi focal contacts now.

I also have farsightedness and have to give up the ability to see far away focused in order to see up close with contacts. I tried bifocals and did not like them at all. I just wanted the ability to see farely well close up and retain my far away vision. Apparently this is not possible. Any other options??

If you are correcting presbyopia with contacts, it is not possible to have wonderful correction for near, mid and distance equally. Basically, they can give pretty good correction in two of the ranges, but not all three. So, you need to decide which two you want. I opted for near and mid, because I am a musician and wanted to be able to read sheet music without my reading glasses. (I have the multi-focal contacts.)

Normal eyes constantly make adjustments for near, mid and far ranges. When you have a contact in your eye, the eye tries to make adjustments for various visual ranges and light levels, but the contacts don't 'adjust' - they are fixed by the prescription. When the light level drops, your pupils dilate more... but the contact prescription is "fixed" for moderately bright daylight levels. That's why as the sun goes down, or if you are in a dimly lit room, things in the distance look blurry with the contact lens designed for presbyopia.

With presbyopia, it's the "near" vision that becomes compromised first... distance vision is usually retained for many years until you develop cataracts.

The problem with the contacts is similar to wearing reading glasses. Reading glasses work fine for reading, but everything off in the distance is distorted. People usually take off their dollar-store readers when they drive their car.

I've had to accept that I need to wear my progressive no-line bifocals most of the time and the contacts only part-time. Wearing contacts while driving after dark is quite disastrous for me... but I can wear my progressive glasses at night and see just fine.

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Originally Posted by Orlando8

Tried the mono vision for 5 days and just couldn't do it. I can take reading glasses off and my distance is fine. No cateracts but do have dry eyes and use drops. Guess my question is, should my vision be able to be corrected for reading with contacts and not affect my distance? Thanks

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Dragonflower writes:

One thing that might be helpful is the multi-focal contacts, and have slightly different corrections in each eye. In other words, you would be combining the concept of monovision contacts (with one eye for close and the other for distance) but with the multi-focal lens so that both eyes are working at all times. This is the best of both worlds, and my eye doc believes this is as close to normal vision as a middle-aged person can get... and that's the kind of contacts I am wearing.

However, there is nothing as good as young, uncorrected vision. No contacts or glasses will enable anyone to see as well at 50 as they did at age 30 with uncorrected vision, since after 40, the eyes lose their ability to "accommodate" for near distance and also, to some degree, for depth perception.

Interestingly, myopia (nearsightness) is much easier to correct with contacts, since their glasses are really acting as a kind of "magnifying glass" to see everything better whether it is 3 inches from their face or 3 meters. My myopic friends do very well with their contacts and have few problems seeing everything. Even my eye doc says that myopics are very easy to fit with contacts and have excellent vision correction with them.

Sounds like your <a href=http://www.coloredcontacts.com>contact lenses</a> are too strong. +1.00 would probably be a better choice.