Eyeglass wearers can combine fashionable frames with superior lenses for the best in vision correction. Whatever your prescription, technological advances have made a variety of lens types available. Your optical professional can guide you to the right lenses for your needs.
Single- or Multi-Focal Lenses
Depending on your prescription, you will need either single-vision or multi-focal lenses. Single-vision lenses correct your vision with a lens prescription for both close and distant vision. Each eye might have a different prescription. Bifocals and trifocals fall into the multi-focal category. Multi-focal lenses correct close and distant vision with different prescriptions on one lens. You might see the different vision-correction prescriptions sharply delineated with visible lines on the lenses. Or you might opt for progressive multi-focal lenses, which do not have the visible lines. Progressive vision correction moves smoothly between the different sections of the lens. In addition to the cosmetic factor, progressive lenses are easier for some people to adjust to than multi-focal lenses with lines.
High Index Lenses
Lenses correct your vision by bending, or refracting, the light that enters your eyes. The weaker your vision, the more the light must be refracted, and the greater the curvature of the lens. A lens with a high degree of curvature must be thick, which gives the “Coke-bottle” look. Advanced lens processes make it possible to create high-index lenses from thinner lens materials. Thinner high-index lenses weigh less than thick lenses, which can eliminate nose pain from the weight of thick glasses. Thinner lenses also fit more styles of frames. High-index lenses are used for both single-vision and multi-focal corrections.
Aspheric Lenses
Regular lenses have a rounded surface, making them thicker at the edges or in the center of the lens. Aspheric lenses use advanced curvature formulas to correct vision with a thinner lens profile. Aspheric lenses are usually also high-index. Due to the reduced center thickness, aspheric lenses are especially flattering for strong farsighted prescriptions. The advanced design of aspheric lenses allows greater optical clarity with reduced distortion in peripheral areas of the lens. They can be used for single-vision and multi-focal prescriptions.
