{"id":1151,"date":"2020-04-19T18:05:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T18:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wordpress\/?page_id=1151"},"modified":"2021-08-01T09:09:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-01T09:09:50","slug":"what-are-bifocal-glasses","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/guide-to-childrens-eye-exams\/glasses-for-children\/what-are-bifocal-glasses\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Does My Child Need Bifocals?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What are bifocal glasses?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Bifocal lenses are effective in supporting a child\u2019s focusing for all school work and may even alleviate eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision and fatigue.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bifocal glasses (bifocals) contain two distinct vision prescriptions \u2014 the top of the lens corrects distance vision, while the bottom of the lens corrects near vision.<\/p>\n<p>Bifocals were originally created for people who have difficulty seeing both distant and near images clearly \u2014 this problem is usually associated with aging.<\/p>\n<p>However, children can also need bifocals for the following reasons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Inadequate control over the lens inside the eye.<\/b> The main role of the eye lens is to focus on an image, to enable clear vision, specifically for near images.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Inability to sustain focus over an extended period of time<\/b>. This can lead to blurring of words, especially if the child is tired or doing homework.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Inability to shift focus quickly from distant to near images<\/b>. This is necessary when a child copies from the board to their notebook and can result in blurry vision any time they look away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Over focusing problems causes additional stress on the eyes.<\/b> This can lead to eyestrain, headaches, and even eye turns\u2014 causing double vision.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Increased stress on the visual system for near vision.<\/b> This can cause both visual and physical discomfort \u2014narrowing of perceptual fields with a reduction in visual space, a possible development nearsightedness; and neck and back tension.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Are bifocals necessary?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>While bifocals typically contain two different vision correction prescriptions, they also can be used as reading glasses for children. Bifocal lenses are beneficial for children who have reduced focusing abilities for near vision\u2014 the bifocal provides a plus lens, which provides the support they need for close vision, without changing their distance vision.<\/p>\n<p>In some cases, these plus lenses, are called &#8216;learning&#8217; or &#8216;support&#8217; lenses, and will be prescribed to help relax the child\u2019s focusing system, to enable longer periods of comfortable vision.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">Contact an eye doctor<\/a> near you that has experience in prescribing bifocal lenses for children.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/guide-to-childrens-eye-exams\/glasses-for-children\/do-children-need-sunglasses\/\">Do Children Need Sunglasses?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"practice-search-widget\">\n\t\t<h3>Find an eye doctor for children near you<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t<form class=\"practice-search-form practice-search-form-widget\" action=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/results\/\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page\" class=\"practice-search-page\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_latitude\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_longitude\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"address\" class=\"practice-search-address\" placeholder=\"City, Surburb or Address\" value=\"\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"practice-search-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M10.6796 0.130005C9.15708 0.130059 7.66615 0.5646 6.38198 1.38258C5.09781 2.20057 4.07373 3.36803 3.43004 4.74783C2.78634 6.12763 2.54976 7.66246 2.74808 9.17205C2.9464 10.6816 3.57139 12.1033 4.54964 13.27L0.729639 17.08C0.6364 17.1732 0.562439 17.2839 0.511979 17.4058C0.461519 17.5276 0.435547 17.6581 0.435547 17.79C0.435547 17.9219 0.461519 18.0524 0.511979 18.1743C0.562439 18.2961 0.6364 18.4068 0.729639 18.5C0.917942 18.6883 1.17334 18.7941 1.43964 18.7941C1.5715 18.7941 1.70207 18.7681 1.82389 18.7177C1.94571 18.6672 2.0564 18.5932 2.14964 18.5L5.99964 14.62C7.35406 15.6038 8.98566 16.1324 10.6596 16.13C12.7814 16.13 14.8162 15.2871 16.3165 13.7869C17.8168 12.2866 18.6596 10.2517 18.6596 8.13C18.6596 6.00827 17.8168 3.97344 16.3165 2.47315C14.8162 0.97286 12.7814 0.130005 10.6596 0.130005H10.6796ZM10.6796 14.13C9.49295 14.13 8.33291 13.7781 7.34622 13.1188C6.35952 12.4595 5.59049 11.5225 5.13636 10.4261C4.68224 9.32975 4.56342 8.12335 4.79493 6.95946C5.02644 5.79558 5.59788 4.72648 6.437 3.88736C7.27611 3.04825 8.34521 2.4768 9.5091 2.24529C10.673 2.01378 11.8794 2.1326 12.9757 2.58673C14.0721 3.04085 15.0092 3.80989 15.6685 4.79658C16.3277 5.78328 16.6796 6.94332 16.6796 8.13C16.6796 9.7213 16.0475 11.2474 14.9223 12.3726C13.7971 13.4979 12.2709 14.13 10.6796 14.13Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"practice-search-use-my-location\">\n\t\t\tSearch near me\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\n\t<\/form>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h2><b>Does my child need to wear bifocals all day?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>It is important for children to wear bifocals for all close work, especially at school and for homework. Bifocals may not be needed for long term use as some children may only require the extra support until they develop stronger control of their focusing system. Other children will continue to require the additional support for near vision for as long as they are in school.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\"><strong>An eye doctor<\/strong><\/a> will advise when your child needs to wear these glasses and for how long.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Do all bifocal glasses have a bisecting line?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Early bifocal lenses contained a visible bisecting horizontal line that stretched across the entire lens and clearly segmented the top of the lens from the bottom. These lenses are called &#8216;executive bifocals&#8217; and are not usually prescribed for children.<\/p>\n<p>Later bifocal designs contain a smaller half-moon (D-shape) segment designed for near vision correction, with the rest of the lens to be used for distance. This segment is called a \u2018D-segment\u2019 and establishes a clear delineation between lens powers, without the visible straight line extending horizontally across the entire lens.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Some children might prefer to use a bifocal lens as it helps them to understand which lens power to use for its specific purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Multifocal lenses<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In recent years, multifocal (progressive) lenses have been designed to combine the distance and reading lens powers <em>without<\/em> a visible line. This is a popular choice for parents and children for both aesthetic reasons, as well as to limit \u201cimage jumps\u201d which can occur as the child looks from one lens power to the other.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The multifocals used for children are different from the types used by adults as the reading power is significantly lower and they are easier to use.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><b>Vision therapy<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>It is important to note that sometimes, if the focusing problem is severe, or your child has multiple vision problems, a vision therapy program will be prescribed in conjunction with eye glasses. This program will help your child and facilitate resolution of the underlying visual problems.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LEARN MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/guide-to-childrens-eye-exams\/\">Guide to Children\u2019s Eye Exams<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\"><strong>Schedule an appointment<\/strong><\/a> with a vision therapy eye doctor to discuss a treatment program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are bifocal glasses? Bifocal lenses are effective in supporting a child\u2019s focusing for all school work and may even alleviate eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3396,"parent":1170,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-article.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[259,151,226,186,127,260],"class_list":["post-1151","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bifocal","tag-eyestrain","tag-fatigue","tag-focusing","tag-headaches","tag-multifocal"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Does My Child Need Bifocals? - Optometrists.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/guide-to-childrens-eye-exams\/glasses-for-children\/what-are-bifocal-glasses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Does My Child Need Bifocals? - Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What are bifocal glasses? 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