Scleral Contact Lenses in Missouri
Not everyone can wear standard eyewear comfortably. That’s why our contact lens specialists at Eyecare Specialties are proud to offer scleral lenses. For some patients, these customizable lenses can provide greater vision correction and comfort than any other options, and our eye doctors have years of experience personalizing scleral contacts to patients’ unique needs.
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Whether you are looking for a comprehensive eye exam, new glasses or contacts, or more, our experienced optometrists and opticians are ready to serve you!
What Are Scleral Contacts?
Scleral contact lenses take their name from the sclera (the whites) of the eyes. While most contacts rest on the cornea — the clear, frontmost layer of the eye that helps us focus vision — there are many cases where the cornea isn’t fit to support a lens.
Instead, scleral lenses vault completely over the cornea to rest their edges on the sclera. They’re a type of rigid gas permeable (RGP or GP) contact lens, which are “hard” contacts that are custom-made and designed to last, unlike disposable soft contact lenses.
The Benefits of Scleral Lenses
Scleral lenses can be an excellent choice for several reasons. A few are medical: for one, by vaulting over the eye, they avoid causing any problems with sensitive or irregular corneas. And because they’re breathable RGP lenses that trap tears against the eye, they hydrate and oxygenate the eye more than other contacts.
Scleral contact lenses also tend to stay in place better than other lenses because they’re more rigid, they rest on the sclera, and they’re custom fit. And because they cover the entire cornea, irritants or allergens are less likely to reach this sensitive part of the eye.
Types of Scleral Contact Lenses
There are a few different kinds of scleral contacts: corneo-scleral and semi-scleral lenses, mini-scleral lenses, and full scleral lenses. The main difference between these options are their sizes, and these variations allow us to choose the best scleral contact lenses for your eye shape and needs.
BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY!
Whether you are looking for a comprehensive eye exam, new glasses or contacts, or more, our experienced optometrists and opticians are ready to serve you!
Who’s the Best Fit for Scleral Lenses?
Scleral lenses are an excellent contact lens option in their own right, but they’re often used to allow patients with certain conditions to wear contact lenses comfortably.
This disorder causes the cornea to become progressively thinner, until the cornea can’t hold its dome shape and develops a cone-like bulge. This causes unfocused vision. Eyeglasses can’t correct for this, and standard contacts can’t even rest on the deformed cornea. Scleral lenses vault entirely over the faulty cornea to provide clear vision.
Dry eye syndrome doesn’t just make wearing standard contacts uncomfortable: it can make contacts dangerous to the cornea, which is usually protected by a tear film. Scleral contacts are breathable and hold a reservoir of tears against the eye. This avoids harming the cornea, but it can also be used to treat severe cases of dry eye where nothing else helps tears stay on the eye.
Some people have severe allergies, live and work in places with plenty of irritants, or have extra-sensitive eyes due to conditions like giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC). Standard contacts typically trap foreign objects in the eye and make things worse. Scleral contact lenses instead shield the eye from allergens and irritants, providing both vision correction and eye protection in one solution.
Some common vision errors aren’t as easily corrected by standard contacts. These include an irregularly-shaped cornea caused by astigmatism, or presbyopia, which is the loss of ability of the natural lens in our eye to focus clearly up close. Scleral lenses can provide more precise and tailored vision correction than many other solutions, making them an excellent choice for these conditions.
If patients have recently had a cornea transplant, refractive vision surgery such as LASIK, or other eye surgery to do with the “anterior segment” — the front — of the eye, scleral contacts are the best option for vision correction. They avoid harming the eye, actively protect the eye, and can correct for complex vision errors that may result from surgery complications that other contacts aren’t designed for.
In some cases, patients may not have a condition that fits neatly into one of these categories, but still have a hard time wearing normal contact lenses. Prescription scleral contacts offer a unique solution to these patients and often bypass or solve the problems that make using other eyewear ineffective. Our professional eye doctors take the time to make sure every scleral lens we provide fits comfortably.
It’s important that your eye doctor understands your eyes just as well as they understand the ins and outs of scleral lenses. To learn more or get fitted for scleral lenses by our contact lens experts Jill McNaughton, O.D., and Kyle Johnson, O.D., call us or schedule an appointment online at Eyecare Specialties today!
In some cases, patients may not have a condition that fits neatly into one of these categories, but still have a hard time wearing normal contact lenses. Prescription scleral contacts offer a unique solution to these patients and often bypass or solve the problems that make using other eyewear ineffective. Our professional eye doctors take the time to make sure every scleral lens we provide fits comfortably.
It’s important that your eye doctor understands your eyes just as well as they understand the ins and outs of scleral lenses. To learn more or get fitted for scleral lenses by our contact lens experts Jill McNaughton, O.D., and Kyle Johnson, O.D., call us or schedule an appointment online at Eyecare Specialties today!