Ask the doctor - new bi-focal contacts

HOUSTON (FOX26) - Melissa Wilson asks Dr. Alan Panzer - who might be a candidate for the new bi-focal contact lenses

        New bifocal contacts allow patients to ditch the reading glasses

        Hit 40 years old, and most adults begin holding papers or a book further from their face.  Before long, the print is just too blurry to read, without using a pair of reading glasses. 

We talked to Dr. Allan Panzer with Houston Dry Eye Clinic about the ideal candidate for bifocal contact lenses.  "The perfect person to try this out is a person who is near-sighted or far-sighted and has not too much of astigmatism.  Most people can be corrected with astigmatism, but without astigmatism, it's one less variable. 

When they are simply near-sighted or far-sighted and need corrective lenses, the bifocal contact lenses work very well.  Most recently, there are the Acuvue one-day contact lenses, and they have had stellar success, to the point where the company can almost not keep up with the demand. 

I've been waiting 36 years for what I call a good bifocal contact lens, and I feel like this is the best bifocal contact lens that has come out.  The most amazing thing is that they give distance, intermediate, and near vision all at once.  It is an astonishing product. 

        Dr. Panzer says it's amazing how quickly presbyopia sets in, which is the blurred reading vision.  He says his patients are usually able to wear the bifocal contacts for life, if they'd like.  He says they do cost a lot more than the typical lenses, but he says his patients have been willing to pay the up-charge for the convenience.

        For more information, http://www.houstondryeyeclinic.com/