What Are Occupational Glasses?

After the age of forty, reading glasses, combined distance-and-near glasses and contact lenses are used for difficulty with near vision. In combined distance-and-near lenses, the lower part is set for near vision and the upper part for distance, while the area between them is set for intermediate distance. In other words, we look down when reading and look straight ahead through the upper part of the glasses to see into the distance. A computer screen is at intermediate distance, and we look at it through the lower-middle part of the glasses.

In occupational multifocal lenses, the position and size of the distance, near and intermediate zones are changed. For example, a librarian looking at bookshelves looks through the upper part of the glasses, not the lower part, to see near. A car mechanic lying under a car can look at intermediate distance through the upper part of the glasses. For someone who reads all day, the near zone can be moved higher, in front of the pupil.

With adjustments like these, vision is made easier in the person’s work activities.