If you want to wear contact lenses, you will first need to get an eye exam to determine if your eyes are healthy. Certain eye health conditions make it difficult to wear traditional contacts. In this case, you will need specialty contact lenses. At Within Sight Vision Center in Edmond, OK, our optometrist provides lenses for patients who are hard to fit for contacts. We will examine your eyes and find the right lenses for you.
Hard to Fit Conditions
Several eye issues make it hard to wear traditional contacts. Keratoconus, for example, occurs when your eye bulges into a cone shape, making it difficult to wear regularly shaped contacts. Other conditions, like dry eye, presbyopia, and giant papillary conjunctivitis, make soft contacts uncomfortable. If you have astigmatism or a difficult prescription, you may need lenses with several prescriptions. Those who had a refractive error surgery, like LASIK, may also need specialty lenses.
Types of Specialty Lenses
Every patient we see will have a different eye shape, and this is why contact lenses should be crafted to meet the shape accordingly. Specialty lenses are beneficial especially when a patient has more difficult needs than others. If our eye doctor determines that you cannot wear traditional contact lenses, we will have you try specialty lenses. Common types of specialty lens include:
- Scleral lenses: These contacts rest on the whites of the eyes, not the corneas. They work for those with keratoconus and dry eye, because they are specially shaped and hold more moisture.
- Toric lenses: These lenses work for those with astigmatism. They are custom made and work to correct vision problems from astigmatism.
- Rigid gas-permeable lenses: These lenses consist of a rigid design that differs from traditional contacts. They provide the patient with a vision correction that is sharper than before and is considered to be much more durable than soft lenses. These are available in multifocal or bifocal design options.
- Multifocal or bifocal lenses: These contacts contain more than one prescription. They are beneficial for patients with presbyopia. Multifocal lenses can correct nearsightedness and farsightedness.
Visit Our Optometrist in Edmond, OK for Specialty Contact Lenses
If you have symptoms of an eye health condition or struggle to wear traditional contacts, we can help. At Within Sight Vision Center in Edmond, OK, we will perform an eye exam and contact lens exam to find the right lenses for you. The information from these exams will tell us the size of your pupil, the ability of your tear ducts to produce tears, and the prescription you need. We can then customize your contact lenses. Our goal is to keep your eye health and vision at their best. Call us today to schedule an appointment or to learn more.