Top Eye Conditions to Treat With Scleral Lenses

Specialty contact lenses continue to advance in tremendous ways. New contact lens solutions, materials, and designs are allowing eye doctors to serve more patients in innovative ways. For example, they can now treat certain eye conditions that make it difficult and uncomfortable to wear traditional contact lenses. For those cases, they can now prescribe specialty contact lenses like scleral lenses.

What Are Scleral Lenses?

These are specially designed lenses used to manage various visual and eye conditions. Scleral lenses sit on the sclera, the whole part of the eye. They hold artificial tears that coat and moisturize the cornea for longer periods than traditional lenses.

Furthermore, they have a larger diameter than regular contact lenses. This allows them to fit over a larger portion of the eye without touching the cornea. Scleral lenses increase the patient’s level of comfort. They are especially helpful for anyone who recently underwent corneal transplant surgery.

Eye Conditions Treated With Scleral Lenses

These large, gas-permeable contact lenses provide the same benefits as regular lenses. But aside from providing clearer vision, scleral lenses can also treat various eye conditions. Some of these include:

Severe Dry Eyes

Dry eye syndrome is an extremely common and uncomfortable condition. When your eyes get too dry, you may experience irritation, itching, vision problems, redness, and even pain. If you often experience dry eyes, scleral lenses can help you in several ways.

For instance, since they do not make any contact with the cornea, they are not irritating the way regular contact lenses can be. Additionally, they hold a tiny amount of artificial tears, providing constant hydration and comfort to the eyes.

Keratoconus

This is an eye condition whereby the cornea bulges outward and grows thin. The cone-shaped bulge leads to blurred vision and sensitivity to light in some cases. Usually, this condition affects both eyes. However, it can affect one eye more than the other one. Since scleral lenses vault over the bulging cornea, they help keep the eyes more comfortable and improve vision.

Burn or Chemical Injuries

Whether caused by chemicals or heat, burns to the eyes can cause irregular astigmatism and serious eye scarring. Patients with these types of eye injuries may complain of visual distortion, discomfort, pain, or the inability to wear regular contact lenses.

Scleral lenses are effective at resolving these problems. In addition to being custom made, they vault over the corneal surface and provide an artificial tear reservoir for the eye’s surface. They help hydrate the eyes, promoting comfort and healing. They also protect the surface of the eye from contact with the eyelids, which can cause friction.

Post-Surgery Complications

Sometimes, some complications arising from a refractive surgery such as LASIK may cause corneal irregularities. Depending on the extent and type of the corneal irregularity, your eye doctor may recommend scleral lenses to provide greater comfort and improved vision after the surgical procedure.

To learn more about scleral lenses, visit HineSight Vision Care at our office in Flowood, Mississippi. You can call (601) 519-4466 today to schedule an appointment.