This beautiful spring weather has provided many of our patients with extra opportunities to enjoy (and sometimes become frustrated) by their favorite outdoor activities. Current lens technology allows multiple solutions for these challenges.
We find that golf enthusiasts, especially those with decreasing midrange and near vision, need special progressive lenses. Those lenses maximize their peripheral and distance vision while providing clear vision at the tee.
There are multiple spectacle and contact lens designs available that meet these requirements. Some golfers prefer polarized sun lenses, while others find these cause distortion in their peripheral field and prefer traditional tinted lenses in shades of amber and brown. Amber and brown lenses highlight subtle changes in topography on the green, helping the golfer to anticipate the path the ball will follow to the tee.
Monovision, a method of correcting one eye for distance and the other for near with contact lenses, may work well for a concert violinist, but not at all for a tennis or golf player who needs excellent depth perception. Creative flexible solutions are sometimes necessary. Great tools for maximum flexibility are press-on adds or clip-on sunglasses in multiple color tints. Gray for running in bright sunlight, polarized for fishing and flying, rose or red hued for relaxation are a few examples where clip-on options would be helpful in multi-sport situations.
When you meet with your eye doctor, make sure to discuss your favorite activities so they may help you meet your personal goals. Within any sport are individual players with individual needs, and years of treating individuals has taught me the necessity of listening closely and exploring multiple options with each patient. Every patient is different and should be treated as such.