For many, wearing contact lenses can seem like an unattainable goal. Vision issues like keratoconus, dry eye, or astigmatism can make traditional soft contacts ineffective. However, optometry is continually advancing, and at Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care in Rockville, we take pride in providing solutions for patients who were previously considered "hard to fit."
Seeing Beyond Limits: The Power of Specialty Contact Lenses
Unlike regular soft contacts that offer a standardized fit, specialty lenses are a personalized solution to meet specific visual needs.
These custom-designed lenses provide comfort and clarity that regular soft contacts can't match, making them excellent at correcting vision problems, even in patients with the most irregularly shaped corneas.
Specialty lenses include rigid gas permeable, scleral, toric, custom soft, and hybrid contact lenses.
Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Lenses
RGP lenses are effective for many hard-to-fit patients due to their unique attributes. Made from a hard, oxygen-permeable material, RGPs allow your eyes to breathe and reduce the risk of infection from protein deposits, a common issue with soft lenses. These lenses can also maintain moisture beneath the lens, preventing dry eye and offering comfort.
Managing Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC) with RGP lenses
GPC can lead to swollen inner eyelids and is often caused or worsened by protein buildup on contact lenses. To manage GPC, your eye doctor might recommend daily disposable lenses or RGPs, which are less prone to protein deposits due to their non-water-based composition. Medicated eye drops and a temporary break in contact lens wear may also be necessary for symptom relief.
Overcoming Keratoconus with RGP Lenses
Keratoconus, a condition where the cornea thins and bulges into a cone shape, can make conventional contact lenses uncomfortable. RGPs are for mild, moderate, and even some severe cases of keratoconus. They can help slow down the progression of the cone shape and provide improved vision correction, which may be challenging with soft contacts or eyeglasses.
Post-LASIK Clarity using RGP Lenses
Although LASIK surgery is generally effective, a few patients may encounter lingering vision problems, particularly during nighttime, such as experiencing glare or halos around lights. Rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses can efficiently tackle these side effects and help restore clear vision.
Dry Eye? Let Specialty Lenses Tackle Your Discomfort
Dry eye is a common condition caused by insufficient tear production or poor tear quality, leading to uncomfortable symptoms like dryness, burning, irritation, and blurry vision. People with dry eyes often find it difficult to wear regular soft contact lenses due to the discomfort and irritation caused by the lens material drying out quickly. Luckily, specialty contact lenses offer a promising solution.
Gas-permeable lenses address the unique needs of dry eye patients due to materials that allow oxygen to reach the eyes while retaining moisture.
Specialty lenses called scleral lenses that feature a reservoir of tear-like fluid are also ideal for dry eyes as they offer constant lubrication.
If you have chronic dry eye symptoms, seek treatment before wearing contact lenses. Once your condition is under control, one of our optometrists will recommend comfortable specialty lens options.
Sharper Vision Awaits: Discover Toric Lenses for Astigmatism
Astigmatism results from an irregularly shaped cornea, causing visual disturbances. Those with this refractive error can't use standard soft contact lenses, as they don't accommodate the unique corneal shape, leading to blurred and distorted vision.
Toric contact lenses rectify astigmatism and are custom-fitted for your eyes. Made from soft materials, they stay securely in place, ensuring stable vision. In cases of more complex astigmatism, rigid gas permeable lenses (RGPs) may be explored as an option.
Bifocal & Multifocal Contact Lenses for Presbyopia
Presbyopia, a typical age-related issue, affects the ability to focus on close objects. Individuals with this condition frequently depend on reading glasses to correct farsightedness. However, this can be inconvenient as reading glasses offer clear vision for close-up tasks but require constant removal to see medium and long distances. This results in a continuous cycle of wearing, putting away, or switching between reading glasses and other prescriptions for distance vision.
Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses offer a convenient alternative to reading glasses, allowing people with presbyopia to see clearly at various distances without relying on reading glasses or multiple pairs of eyewear. Learn more.
If you've faced challenges with regular soft contact lenses due to one of these conditions or other factors, request an appointment with our eye doctors in Rockville for a contact lens eye exam.