Progressive lens dive mask?

[JoeTPhilly]

Reading and distance contacts?

Yes, there are contacts that correct for both. I use Bausch + Lomb Bio True for Presbyopia. They are daily wear and work well.

 

[sea_ledford]

I've been using bifocal mask lenses for 10 years or so. Just ordered my first trifocal for video use since my monitor sits right between the near vision and far vision focus distances. I've gotten 4 masks from Leonard Maggiore (Leonard Maggiore Opticians | Providing Perfect Vision, Since 1936).

I have a strong astigmatism so contacts and the off the shelf prescriptions don't work for me.

I'll have to look into the SeaVision option next time if they offer true progressives.

 

[LI-er]

You don't need to be old and have cloudy intraocular lenses to get cataract surgery. Lots of people get cataract surgery much earlier than necessary because the replacement lenses correct their refractive error so they no longer need corrective lenses for distance, and if the replacement lenses are either bifocal, multifocal or the newer type that actually change their focus like your original lenses, then they will see clearly at all distances.

Since we're all going to need cataract surgery, and it's a "one and done" type of thing, and overwhelmingly safe, if you want to get rid of your glasses and/or contact lenses then do it now rather than later. The only drawback other than the very low potential risk of complications is that you won't be covered by most insurances including Medicare if it's not medically necessary and/or you're not old enough to qualify. That much being said, generally speaking, cataract surgery isn't that much more expensive than LASIK.

As far as LASIK goes, no one is "too old" for laser surgery.

 

[TNEngineer]

just because you have progressives above the water does not rule out bifocals below. Prescription Dive Mask did my full prescription. It is a bifocal and it works great underwater.

I too have progressives above, Prescription Dive Masks (PDM) bifocals below, and both work very well. PDM talked me into raising the dividing line (increasing the height of the near vision region at the bottom) and I wish I'd gone with my original estimate because I don't need that large an area for near vision. That's one of the reasons I'm interested in underwater progressives... they might allow ME to move that line around by tilting my head, just like progressives do above water.

I have an optometrist appointment coming up, and if my correction has changed again (as I suspect) I may be updating all of my optics which will give me a chance to refresh my dive mask choice.

 

[LI-er]

I've been using bifocal mask lenses for 10 years or so. Just ordered my first trifocal for video use

I have a strong astigmatism so contacts and the off the shelf prescriptions don't work for me.

You're going to the wrong optometrist. And it's highly unlikely that you got trifocal lenses. More likely is that you're confusing terminology and you got PALs.

Have you tried the Distant-eight-eye and the near-left-eye?

That generally works only when the right is the dominant eye.

 

[TNEngineer]

Lots of people get cataract surgery much earlier than necessary because the replacement lenses correct their refractive error so they no longer need glasses for distance

It's my understanding that the artificial lenses have even less focal range than older, hardening natural lenses for most of your life. I've been pretty nearsighted since 5th grade but have avoided laser surgery on my corneas because all that does is shift your focal point - it doesn't increase focus range, which naturally reduces with age as your natural lenses harden.

I have incredibly sharp vision, just biased near, and given my Engineering profession I'd much rather have unassisted sharp close vision than far.

My biggest problem now is floaters. I have one in my right eye that is directly over my fovea (focal point) 99% of the time. Unbelievably annoying. I'm developing a subconscious eye shift thing because it moves the floater out of the way for a few seconds. But my research into dealing with floaters isn't very reassuring... lasing them has mixed reviews, and I really REALLY don't like the "drain the vitreous humor and just leave air in your eyeball" approach.

 

[TNEngineer]

You're going to the wrong optometrist.

I wore contacts for decades, but as my lenses hardened with age and multifocals became necessary I was told by multiple optometrists that multifocal contacts are not an option if you have any degree of astigmatism. I haven't worked through the details of "why" but if that's not true it's a broadly held misbelief by a lot of people in the medical community.

 

[LI-er]

It's my understanding that the artificial lenses have even less focal range than older, hardening natural lenses for most of your life. I've been pretty nearsighted since 5th grade but have avoided laser surgery on my corneas because all that does is shift your focal point - it doesn't increase focus range, which naturally reduces with age as your natural lenses harden.

Not quite. Until recently, replacement lenses had no ability to change focus, but there are new types that actually accommodate just like the human eye, they are placed within the original sac that the natural lens was located and the zonules that pull on the sac can focus the replacement lens just like the original lens. By the time most older people get cataract surgery their original lens is so rigid (and cloudy) that there is virtually no depth of focus remaining.

My biggest problem now is floaters. I have one in my right eye that is directly over my fovea (focal point) 99% of the time. Unbelievably annoying.

Vitreal floaters increase with age, there's no way around it but you don't need a complete vitrectomy to remove them. Air isn't left in the eye, the vitreous is replaced by a gel. Anyway, there are new, much less invasive procedures to remove floaters but they are usually only done when the floaters cause major vision problems. You can probably find an Ophthalmologist who will find a medical need to have the procedure covered by insurance.

 

[LI-er]

I wore contacts for decades, but as my lenses hardened with age and multifocals became necessary I was told by multiple optometrists that multifocal contacts are not an option if you have any degree of astigmatism. I haven't worked through the details of "why" but if that's not true it's a broadly held misbelief by a lot of people in the medical community.

Your optometrist either doesn't have the skill, or doesn't have the time or the patience to attempt to fit you with toric multifocals. There are several types, one of the most effective is the Biofinity Multifocal toric. They don't work for everyone but they work for many, and for your OD to say it won't work without giving it a try is simply irresponsible and just plain wrong.

Are all of these optometrists that tell you that you can't wear contacts doing their exams in a storefront location as compared to private practice? Working a theory here.

 

[LI-er]

It's my understanding that the artificial lenses have even less focal range than older, hardening natural lenses for most of your life. ..have avoided laser surgery on my corneas because all that does is shift your focal point - it doesn't increase focus range, which naturally reduces with age as your natural lenses harden.

You appear to be confusing two different things here. Depth of focus is more a function of pupil size than anything else, and is defined as the distance an object can be moved toward or away from the focal point of the eye without it blurring, and is not a function of the lens changing its focus (accommodation). Pupils tend to get smaller as we age, so depth of focus actually increases with age.

Accommodation is the change in refractive power of the intraocular lens due to its shape, and it decreases with age as the natural crystalline lens gets more rigid due to a buildup of metabolic byproducts accumulated during a person's lifetime.

Laser surgery shifts the focal point to the retina where it belongs, but that is based on viewing an object at distance. As the object moves closer to the eyeball, without accommodation there will be blurry vision.