Scleral Contact Lenses

Times Have Changed – Technological Advances at Keratoconus Specialists of MD

Contact lenses for Keratoconus are not what they used to be… even two years ago. Technological advances have greatly improved contact lenses and lens care products – revolutionizing vision correction.

Scleral contact lenses are large-diameter gas permeable contact lenses specially designed to vault over the entire corneal surface and rest on the “white” of the eye, the sclera. In doing so, scleral contact lenses functionally replace the irregular cornea with a perfectly smooth optical surface to correct vision problems caused by Keratoconus, Lasik failures, post-surgical complications, and other corneal irregularities.

Because scleral contact lenses are designed to vault the corneal surface and rest on the less sensitive surface of the sclera, these lenses often are more comfortable for a person with corneal irregularities. A special liquid fills the space between the back surface of the lens and the front surface of the cornea. This liquid acts as a buffer and protects the compromised corneal tissue. Scleral contact lenses are designed to fit with little or no lens movement during blinks, making them more stable on the eye, compared with traditional corneal gas permeable lenses. These lenses are almost always very comfortable and the vision provided by them is extremely good. The great majority of patients are able to wear their scleral contact lenses almost all of their waking hours without problems.

Dr. Irwin Azman, Keratoconus Specialists, prescribes scleral contact lenses for a variety of hard-to-fit eyes, including patients with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, Radial Keratotomy / Lasik Complications and Lasik failures, Keratoconus, Corneal Ectasia, Post-Surgical Vision Loss,  Pellucid Marginal Degeneration, and other irregular corneas.

Dr. Irwin Azman, one of the country’s top Keratoconus Specialists neither avoids nor declines the challenge of prescribing the most difficult cases.