A Guide to Specialty Contact Lenses
Terms like “conventional lenses” or “standard lenses” might be misleading because all contact lenses must be adapted to the patient’s eyes. Every person’s eye is somewhat different in form, and contact lenses must be tailored to that shape. Specialty contact lenses are beneficial in situations where fitting a lens to the eye or the patient’s demands is more challenging than usual.
Take the scleral lenses, for example. Scleral lenses are used when imperfections in the shape of the cornea make fitting an efficient conventional lens impractical. Instead of sitting on the cornea, scleral lenses rest on the white of the eye (the sclera) and then vault over it. The area between the lens and the ocular surface is filled with a saline solution, which moisturises the eye while successfully masking corneal abnormalities.
Table of Contents
Hard-to-fit Vision Problems
Many ocular problems might make wearing regular contacts challenging. Some of the most common explanations are:
- Corneal scarring from Keratoconus
- Syndrome of dry eyes
- Marginal Pellucid Degeneration
- Post-LASIK or other refractive operation Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC)
- Presbyopia
- Astigmatism
Before that, your eye doctor will thoroughly examine your eyes and eyesight to determine which specialised contact lenses will provide you with the most excellent fit.
Specialty Contact Lenses for Difficult-to-Fit Eyes
Toric Lenses for Astigmatism
The cornea normally has one curvature. However, astigmatism is diagnosed when there are two curves. This eyesight issue, if left untreated, can produce double or blurred vision. Conventional contact lenses cannot correct astigmatism, but toric specialised contact lenses can. Toric lenses are made to fit the needs of each particular patient.
Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses
Rigid gas permeable contact lenses allow a large amount of oxygen to reach your eye, allowing your eyes to breathe. Furthermore, protein deposits do not form on hard lenses. This drastically minimises the chance of eye infection. As a result, many patients with significant astigmatism, strong visual demands, or a vision prescription that needs multifocal prefer GP lenses.
Keratoconus and Scleral Lenses
Keratoconus is a condition in which the cornea is thinner than usual and bulges outward in the form of a cone. Because standard soft contacts do not fit well on this form, doctors frequently equip their keratoconus patients with scleral lenses, which are rigid gas permeable contacts with an extra-wide diameter.
Scleral speciality contact lenses soar over the cornea and rest on your eye’s whites. As a result, the uneven corneal surface is replaced with a nicely rounded surface, allowing for clear vision. Because of the way the scleral lies on the eye, a gap forms between the contact lens and the cornea, which fills with tears and makes these speciality contact lenses a therapeutic treatment for persons with dry eyes.
