Do I need a contact lens specialist?

If conventional soft contact lenses are not solving your vision issues, there might be other types of lenses that a contact lens specialist could design to help you see more clearly. If you experience any of the issues that follow, you could benefit from working with a contact lens specialist like Dr. Morrison:

• You have tried conventional soft contact lenses and still have issues seeing clearly, and/or the lenses irritate your eyes.

• You suffer from ocular conditions with irregular corneas such as: keratoconus, corneal transplants, radial keratotomy, double vision, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, corneal scarring, etc.

• You have a high prescription including high myopia (nearsightedness), high hyperopia (farsightedness), or high astigmatism.

• You experience severe dry eye when using conventional soft contact lenses.

If you experience any of the issues mentioned above, a contact lens specialist may be able to help. Specialty contact lenses (rigid gas permeable, hybrid, or scleral) can be designed with extremely high prescriptions, providing a correction that would be superior to glasses and soft contact lenses for these patients.

For those that have corneal irregularities, specialty contact lenses can be designed to “fit” the irregularities in ways conventional soft contact lenses cannot. Between the keratoconic cornea and the specialty lens, the liquid "fills in" the irregular surface to create a "new" corneal surface, where light can pass through clearly to the retina.

In the case of severe dry eye, specialty contact lenses create a reservoir of preservative-free sterile saline in between your cornea and the lens which stays in place all day and provides constant lubrication to the eye. In cases like Stevens-Johnson syndrome or Sjogren's Syndrome, where more than just the cornea is compromised, the lens can be made to be much larger to protect the conjunctiva (white portion of the eye) as well.

Have a question about what a visit with a contact lens specialist entails? Check out our frequently asked questions (FAQ) or book a consultation by following this link!

Dr. Morrison begins the process for creating mold-based scleral lenses for a patient with corneal scarring who could not wear conventional soft contact lenses without pain. She will take an impression of the patient's eye, and will design scleral lenses to fit any corneal irregularities the patient experiences, allowing the patient to wear the lenses without discomfort.