Relief for Dry Eyes Sufferers -Scleral Contact Lenses

With digital devices being all the rage today, more and more people experience dry eyes syndrome. And if you wear contact lenses, the itchiness and burning can get really uncomfortable. Unfortunately, many contact lens wearers have resorted to wearing glasses because of the discomfort dry eyes symptoms bring.

Ongoing advances in optical technology have brought about specialized lenses, called scleral contacts, to provide relief for dry eyes sufferers. Read on as a Marysville, WA optometrist discusses dry eyes and how scleral lenses work. 

What Causes Dry Eyes?

Your eyes naturally produce tears on an ongoing basis. The tears create a moisturizing that’s supposed to keep your eyes lubricated.

Dry eyes develop for one of three reasons (or all three reasons):

• Your eyes don’t produce enough tears
• Your eyes don’t contain the right amount of water, fatty oils, or mucus
• Your tears evaporate too quickly

Here are the symptoms to watch for:

• Watery eyes
• Redness
• Mucous discharge
• Itching, burning, stinging
• Eyes look tired
• Sensitivity to light
• Blurry vision
• Difficulty driving at night

What Are Scleral Lenses?

Scleral contacts are a special type of rigid gas permeable lenses. What most distinguishes them from other types of lenses is their large diameter, which allows the lens to rest on the sclera or white of the eye instead of on the cornea. Since the sclera contains far fewer nerve endings than the cornea, this feature makes for a much more comfortable fitting lens. 

Scleral lenses form a mini-dome overtop the cornea, creating a fluid-filled reservoir. In effect, the reservoir helps maintain moisture levels by keeping your tears from evaporating. 

Scleral lenses not only help keep your eyes moist, but the gentle pressure of the fluid helps smooth out imperfections along the cornea’s surface. Since imperfections on the cornea account for diminished vision, this smoothing effect produces noticeably clearer vision for the wearer. 

Am I a Good Candidate for Scleral Lenses?

Most anyone who experiences dry eyes can reap the benefits of scleral lenses, even people who don’t need corrective eyewear. They also work especially well for people who have corneal irregularities. 

As mentioned before, corneal irregularities account for many types of vision problems. If your cornea doesn’t have a perfect dome shape, you won’t see as clearly as you should. This goes for glasses and contact lens wearers alike. Scleral lenses fix this problem.

Corneal-related conditions that can be improved by wearing scleral lenses include:

• Astigmatism
• Nearsightedness
• Farsightedness
• Corneal scarring
• Corneal transplant

If you have more questions or want to schedule a consultation, feel free to call our Marysville, WA optometry office today!