Specialty Contact Lenses
Avon Vision Associates 860-677-6444
New Hartford Eye Associates 860-379-7183
Contact lenses can be an excellent alternative to glasses or refractive surgery. There are various types of contact lenses for nearly every eye. We perform contact lens fits for both current and new wearers.
While many people enjoy wearing standard, soft contact lenses, this type of lens won’t suit everyone. Some people have unique visual needs or eye health issues which prevent them from enjoying clear, comfortable vision in soft contact lenses. Our eye doctors are skilled at fitting specialty contact lenses for people with unique visual needs or eye health concerns. Learn more about our specialty contact lenses.
Rigid gas permeable lenses
If your corneas (the front surface of your eyes) are irregularly shaped, customized rigid gas permeable lenses can be a great solution to provide the vision correction that you need. Rigid gas permeable lenses are made of a firm material that is highly breathable, allowing plenty of oxygen to pass through to the eyes. They are customized to fit the eyes, so they can allow for a wider range of vision correction.
Scleral contact lenses
Scleral contact lenses are large-diameter rigid gas permeable lenses designed to vault over the entire front surface of the eye and rest on the sclera, otherwise known as the white part of the eye. The sclera is a less sensitive part of the eye, and since scleral lenses rest on the sclera, they tend to be more comfortable than regular rigid gas permeable lenses. Scleral lenses are a good solution for people who have certain eye health or visual concerns.
Dry eye
If you have chronic dry eye disease, then you may find wearing standard contact lenses to be very uncomfortable. Since scleral contact lenses vault over the front surface of the eye, there is a small space in which a reservoir for tears is created, providing a cushion of moisture for the front surface of the eye.
Moderate to severe astigmatism
If you have a moderate to severe case of astigmatism, then you may have found that standard contact lenses don’t provide the clearest, sharpest vision for you. Scleral contact lenses are stable due to their size, and the liquid under the scleral lenses can compensate for astigmatism.
Keratoconus
Keratoconus is a visual condition in which the cornea, the front surface of the eye, thins and bulges outward into a cone shape and can result in blurry, distorted vision and sensitivity to light. It is usually diagnosed when people are in their late teens to early twenties and can result in increasingly worse vision over time. Since scleral lenses vault over the entire front surface of the eye, they effectively replace the irregularly shaped corneas. They allow light to focus properly on the retina and provide vision correction for people with keratoconus.
Athlete
People who play sports or are otherwise very physically active may find that standard contact lenses tend to be uncomfortable because they are too easily dislodged or slide around on the eyes. Scleral contact lenses are much more stable than standard contact lenses. It’s harder for them to become dislodged from the eyes or slide around on the eyes, providing sharp, stable vision while playing sports.