Get Bigger Contacts for Dry Eyes?
Where I live, allergy season is no joke. So for people who wear contact lenses like I do, it means making sure I always have my eye drops or, if my eyes are really red, it means wearing glasses all day.
But, according to a report put out by the Loyola University Health System (in May 2012), there may be a newer solution for people who suffer with chronic dry eyes. It found that dry eye sufferers may have better luck with a special kind of contact lens.
Their report tracked the experience of a fifty-year-old woman who experienced chronic dry eye. She tried the unique, wide-diameter contact lens and felt almost instant relief. The lens called a scleral contact lens, is between six and 13 millimeters larger in diameter than a regular contact lens (which is about nine millimeters across).
A conventional lens then only covers the colored part of the eye (or your cornea) whereas this scleral lens rests on the cornea and the white or your eyes (or the sclera). They can keep your eyes more moist because under the larger dome of the lens saline solution can stay in its own little shelter there to keep your eyes moist.
To me it sounds almost like you are creating a little round greenhouse in your eye that traps the moisture in there in order to keep your eyes happy all day long!
For people with allergies, who are pregnant, using certain medications or hormone-replacement systems, people with certain diseases, or other health problems, these contact lenses may be the best way to wear contact lenses comfortably.
Unlike scleral lenses of the past, the newer versions are gas permeable allowing for better breathability. Each lens is custom measured with a computer so it curves and accordingly, fits, perfectly.
Because the traditional way to treat dry eyes is the frequent application of eye drops — either over the counter or prescription, using this type of scleral lenses could be an innovative way to help people solve the dry eye problem without constant drop application.
Although they are more expensive, the report said that these special lenses are often covered by insurance since they are used to treat a specific condition: that is, dry eye.
If you suffer from dry eyes make sure you talk to your closest optometrist at an America’s Best retailer near you about the many options available to help you stay comfortable.
