Contact lenses are not always an easy solution for every person. Some eye conditions make wearing contact lenses a difficult proposition; however, this does not rule out wearing contact lenses altogether. Specialized hard-to-fit contacts for specific vision issues may be the right option for you.
Reasons for Hard-to-Fit Contacts
Finding contact lenses that fit and wearing contact lenses in general can be made more challenging when these conditions affect your eyes:
Astigmatism: Astigmatism develops when the front surface of the eye is more curved in a certain direction. It causes blurred vision and can be difficult to correct because regular spherical contacts cannot account for the steeper curvature.
Presbyopia: Presbyopia is the condition where the focusing system within our eyes becomes less flexible over time, causing blurry vision at near, such as reading and computer work. It typically affects people ages 40 or older. Regular contacts will only correct distance vision and does not include an additional reading prescription.
Dry Eyes: When eyes become excessively dry, it leads to irritation, burning, stinging, redness and fluctuating blurred vision. Regular soft contact lenses can exacerbate these conditions by further destabilizing the tear film and making it feel like a foreign object is stuck in your eye.
Keratoconus: Keratoconus is an uncommon condition where the cornea becomes progressively thinner and allows the eye to bulge forward and creates irregular astigmatism. This prevents regular soft contact lenses from providing clear vision.
Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis: This condition is a result of mechanical irritation and sensitivity to protein build up from regular soft contact lenses, especially reusable biweekly or monthly lenses. This leads to discomfort and a foreign body sensation when wearing soft contact lenses.
Solutions for Hard to Fit Contacts
Wearing contacts is not impossible if you experience one of the above conditions. Our optometrists can prescribe contact lenses that are tailored to deal with your specific vision condition.
Astigmatism: Toric contact lenses are useful for correcting astigmatism. Since the lens needs to align with the steeper area it is correcting, toric lenses must not rotate in order to fit on the eye. These lenses are more sensitive to alignment issues and can be custom made to correct specific astigmatism. For these reasons, this type of lens takes longer to fit and make, and costs more than a traditional spherical contact lens.
Presbyopia: Monovision and multifocal contact lenses can help remedy presbyopia and give a clear range of vision without being restricted to certain eye and head postures associated with bifocal or progressive glasses.
Dry Eyes: Both non-medicated and medicated eye drops, as well as dry eye therapy, can be effective solutions for dealing with dry eyes. When these solutions are not enough to allow for regular soft contact lens wear, custom made rigid gas permeable or scleral contact lenses may be a good option to allow for clear vision and comfort.
Keratoconus: Scleral lenses are a good solution for keratoconus by correcting for the irregular astigmatism, providing substantially clearer vision and increased comfort compared to regular soft contact lenses.
Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis: Rigid gas permeable lenses are a good solution for giant papillary conjunctivitis, as these lenses will limit protein deposits from accumulating and therefore reduce irritation.