There’s no denying that contact lenses offer plenty of benefits for people who don’t want to be burdened by glasses. Unfortunately, traditional contact lenses can be uncomfortable for people with complex eye conditions, and they may not give you the clear vision you’re looking for, either.
Vision and Ortho-K Center is a leading provider of comfortable custom scleral lenses, an alternative to traditional contacts that offer greater comfort and clearer vision for people with many types of vision problems. In this post, Curtis Frank, OD, offers a quick overview of scleral lenses, along with why many people find them more comfortable than traditional contacts.
Contact lenses are a boon to the millions of people who need corrective lenses but would rather not rely on eyeglasses. Like glasses, contact lenses use custom prescriptions to treat an array of vision issues, including myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.
Traditional contact lenses are designed to cover and rest on your cornea, the clear, dome-shaped covering over your iris and pupil. Unfortunately, corneal contact can be very uncomfortable for many people, or aberrations in the corneal shape can prevent the use of traditional contacts. For these individuals, scleral contacts offer an effective alternative.
Scleral lenses are contact lenses that are larger than a typical contact lens — large enough to fit over the entire surface of your eye. While traditional contacts rest on the cornea, scleral lenses rest on the sclera, which is the white part of your eye.
While traditional contact lenses may be either hard or soft, all scleral lenses are hard or rigid, and they're gas permeable, meaning they allow oxygen to reach and nourish the cornea. Scleral lenses require special technology to create your prescription, and fitting the lenses also requires special skills, which is why these lenses aren’t offered by all doctors.
Thanks to their unique design, scleral lenses can be an ideal solution for people with common and complex vision needs, including issues affecting the cornea.
Most corneas are round or nearly round, helping light enter your eye evenly. That round shape enables light to reach the light-sensitive retina at the back of your eye in a predictable way that supports clear vision.
If your cornea is irregularly shaped, it alters the way light reaches the retina, resulting in blurry vision. Some people have very steep corneas — a condition called keratoconus — that cause significant problems with vision.
Because they cover the entire cornea, scleral lenses provide stable vision correction that enables light to enter the eye more predictably, supporting clearer vision without distortion caused by corneal irregularities.
Scleral contacts can also be a great choice for people with dry eyes, a chronic condition that affects more than 16 million Americans and increases your risks of infections and corneal damage.
Scleral lenses avoid corneal irritation associated with traditional contacts, and the space behind the lenses acts as a reservoir for fluid, keeping the eye surface moist. This reservoir keeps eyes comfortable while providing an added layer of protection for your sensitive corneas.
Scleral lenses help relieve dry eye symptoms, including burning, itching, and irritation, while clearing up blurriness that often accompanies the condition.
Scleral lenses are often prescribed after certain types of eye surgeries to protect the eye and soothe it. Those same benefits can help people who want to wear contact lenses regularly, but whose eyes are too sensitive to withstand the corneal pressure of traditional lenses. They may also be beneficial for people whose eyes are sensitive due to allergies.
Thanks to their unique design, scleral lenses help provide clear vision and greater comfort for people with complex or chronic eye conditions. To learn how they can help you, call to request an appointment with Dr. Frank and the team at Vision and Ortho-K Center in Boston and Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts.
