Presbyopia is a natural aging process that affects the eyes. Most people begin to need help with reading and seeing up close by their mid-40s, according to the American Optometric Association. Progressive lenses help people see at the distance, up close and at many distances in between. Most progressive lenses have a blurry area in the middle of the lens that takes awhile to adjust to. Some people do not like the feeling of looking over the blur and cannot get used to wearing progressive lenses and prefer other types of lenses.
Reading Glasses
The Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Services at the University of Illinois at Chicago notes that reading glasses are designed for seeing detail up close, usually about 14 to 16 inches away. Reading glasses are made as full lenses, which are used when someone spends a lot of time reading or working close-up. However, if work involves seeing in the distance or looking across the room, half-eye reading glasses are more appropriate. This lens allows a person to look down and through the lenses for reading and up and over the glasses to see in the distance.
Standard Bifocals
Standard bifocals help people to see in the distance and up close. Regular bifocals have a line, most look like a half-moon upside down in the lens. This type of bifocal does not have the blurry middle area that bothers some people with progressive lenses. However, lined bifocals cause a slight image jump when a person looks down through the line to read. Most people learn to ignore the line after wearing the lenses for awhile.
Contact Lenses
Bifocal contact lenses are available in different styles. A common way to fit contacts, according to the website Contactlens.org, is to use one eye for distance and one for close-up, called Monovision. Bifocal contact lenses are also designed as progressive lenses, similar to the way progressive spectacle lenses work.
Surgery
Eye surgery is an option for replacing progressive lenses. According to the website Allaboutvision.com, conductive keratoplasty uses radio waves to change the curve of the eye to help improve close vision. The surgery is only done on one eye as monovision correction.
