Bifocal Reading Glasses

Bifocal reading glasses have evolved tremendously in recent years. If you are having difficulty reading because of your vision and you are in need of reading spectacles, reading glasses may help. But what if you're already using spectacles for distance vision? If you have two pairs of spectacles, one for reading and one for distance vision, you may find it difficult or at least annoying to juggle between the two. One practical way to solve your problems is to try bifocal reading glasses.

On this Hubpage, I will provide a variety of information on bifocal glasses, covering how they work as well as the different types. Just I did with my P90X reviews hub, I hope to integrate user feedback over time. I hope you'll also develop a better understanding for how to buy the best pair of bifocals for you.

During the early 1760s, an American statesman named Benjamin Franklin created the first pair of bifocals. Franklin was suffering from near-sightedness (difficulty in viewing distant objects) and far-sightedness (difficulty in viewing near objects). He used to make use of reading glasses to deal with near-sightedness and a different pair of eyeglasses to deal with far-sightedness. He used to find it very taxing to repeatedly remove and change the spectacles for reading and distance vision.

During that time, there were many other people who were suffering from this problem. By inventing bifocals, Franklin found a solution to this problem and revolutionized these ubiquitous optical accessories forever. He took both pairs of eyeglasses and then cut them into half, placing the distance vision lens on top and the reading lens on bottom inside each frame of the spectacles. This simple, practical solution was how bifocals were born.

As you now know, bifocal glasses consist of two kinds of lenses meant for two different viewing distances. Each bifocal is made up of one lens placed at the bottom in order to correct the near vision which also helps in reading whereas the lens that is placed above this lens is used to correct distance vision. If you do not have any problems in viewing distance objects, you can go for a pair of bifocal glasses which has a reading lens at the bottom and plain, clear glass on top. When the two lenses join each other, a distinct line is formed. Such types of glasses are called Franklin Glasses or Executive Bifocals.

Many people who wear such bifocals with a distinct line may not like wearing it just because of the visible line on the glass. Hence, with the advancement of eyeglass technology, now we can make use of progressive bifocal lenses which do not have a visible line where the two lenses meet each other.

There are four types of bifocal lenses and they can be classified as follows:

1. A round section located in the lower area of the lens.
2. A semi-circle section which appears like a horizontally placed ‘D’ or like a half moon.
3. A rectangular section which is placed in the lower area of the lens.
4. A lens that is halfway divided by a visible line where the upper area of the glass and lower area of near vision glass meets.

All of these can be integrated into progressive bifocals which may also be referred to as no line bifocal reading glasses.  Note that all these bifocal lens designs provide the same clarity in vision. Whenever you want to read you can do so through the bottom half of the lens whereas you can look straight to view objects located at a distance. 

You can also find bifocal sunglasses, computer glasses which integrate a third lens to become "trifocals" and bifocal safety reading glasses for working in industrial environments.  As you can see, bifocal reading eyeglasses have come a long way since the days of Ben Franklin.  You can even buy rimless bifocal reading glasses.

Whenever you visit your local optician to buy bifocal glasses, you will be asked to choose a spectacle frame. Next, he or she will take the measurement of the position of your eyes and then mark it on the lens. This helps the optician in deciding the proper placing of the lens. You will be also be asked to select which type of bifocals lenses you desire (see previous section). If you do not wish to go for a bifocal lens with a visible line, you can buy progressive lens.

Before you buy your bifocals, you should visit your eye doctor or eye specialist to get your eyes tested. He will decide on the right prescription for each lens in your bifocal reading glasses. You can buy non prescription bifocal reading glasses, but I recommend making sure you have the exact right correction for your eyes.