Are Scleral Contact Lenses Right for You? Find Out from a Danville, KY Optometrist
Scleral lenses are more comfortable for people with certain eye conditions, especially those who have issues with their cornea. In addition to comfort, these lenses also provide sharper vision correction for those who have issues with the corneas, in particular, those with keratoconus. At Danville Eye Center, serving Danville, Liberty, Mount Vernon, and the nearby regions, our optometrist evaluates your eyes and determines if scleral lenses are right for you.
About Scleral Lenses
Scleral lenses are a type of specialty contact that's larger than standard lenses. Usually, a normal cornea is around 11 millimeters in diameter, and standard contacts are designed to accommodate this size. However, scleral lenses are over 14 millimeters in diameter and may expand over 20 millimeters. The large size covers your cornea along with the white of your eye, known as your sclera. Unlike a standard pair of contacts which only fits over the cornea of your eye, these cover a larger portion, so they don't irritate your cornea.
Since they're gas-permeable, they're designed to let oxygen pass through them easier than a standard pair of contacts. Typically, scleral lenses are more durable and improve your vision better than a standard pair of contacts.
Our practitioner recommends these gas-permeable lenses if you have keratoconus, astigmatism, or a corneal irregularity. Keratoconus is a condition that causes your eye to bulge due to your cornea thinning. Because of your eye's shape, light doesn't reflect on your retina as it should. Therefore, you can't see clearly. With astigmatism, your cornea isn't shaped like normal, and it causes issues with the light reflecting on your retina as well.
Scleral Lenses
The initial stage of getting scleral lenses is the same as getting a normal pair of contacts. For example, our optometrist performs a visual acuity test. During this portion of the exam, our optometrist asks you to look into a machine that has different lenses in it. As our eye doctor switches the lenses, it changes the magnifying power. Based on your results, our optometrist determines your eye prescription. We'll perform a medical history analysis and check your eyes for any health issues, too. Our optometrist may think you'd benefit from scleral lenses based on your results. We also conduct a contact lens fitting. This part of the exam evaluates the size of your eyes. Our optometrist uses a machine that creates a topographical map of your cornea. All the data we collect from the fitting assesses the dimensions of your contact lenses.