If you have difficulties wearing contact lenses, you may benefit from scleral lenses. To wear scleral lenses, you must visit a specially trained optometrist who can properly fit you with them. If you live in Portland, you are in luck because at Foster Vision, we have the tools to do so.
What Are Scleral Contact Lenses?
While regular contact lenses rest only on your eyes’ corneas, scleral contacts are much larger. These lenses cover most of your eye, including the white part of the eye known as the sclera. Because these lenses cover more of your eye, they can fit better if you have oddly shaped eyes.
Who Can Wear Scleral Contact Lenses?
Not everyone can use standard contact lenses. However, if you need vision correction and don’t want to wear glasses, you may qualify for using scleral contact lenses. These lenses work well for people who have chronic dry eyes, irregular corneas, and participate in sports.
Irregularly shaped corneas could happen for several reasons. You may have scar tissue from damage to the eye or a condition called keratoconus. The latter causes the cornea to have a more pointed shape that does not accommodate traditional contacts well. However, with a careful fitting process, scleral lenses fit over even irregularly shaped eyes.
Those with chronic dry eyes who don’t have enough moisture for regular contacts can use scleral contacts because the larger shape allows your eyes to retain more moisture.
Lastly, if you find that regular contacts fall out when you play sports, you may find that scleral contact lenses fit better and stay in your eyes more reliably, even during sports impacts.
Why Are Scleral Lenses Better Than Regular Contacts?
If you qualify for scleral contact lenses, you have to have a trained optometrist take measurements of your eyes to get the best fit. Since these lenses cover more of your eye, their dimensions matter even more than traditional contacts to ensure the proper fit.
For those who cannot use standard contacts, scleral contacts offer better vision. Additionally, they fit better in your eyes, are easier to put in, and have fewer chances of complications.
Make an Appointment for Your Contact Lenses Fitting in Portland
The most important thing to remember with scleral contact lenses is that you must have a qualified optometrist do the fitting. Not every eye clinic provides this service, but we do at Foster Vision in Portland. If you think that you could be a good candidate for scleral contact lenses or have been told that you need hard-to-fit contacts, call our Portland clinic for an appointment. You can reach us at (503) 546-4460 or send us an online appointment request. We are looking forward to helping you to get the contact lenses your eyes need.