Scleral lenses have been around for over 100 years. Until the new gas permeable lens materials were developed patients could only wear scleral lenses for a few hours a day. With the highly oxygen permeable lens materials now in use, patients can comfortably wear these lenses all day. Scleral lenses are most commonly used to treat eyes with irregular corneas such as keratoconus and post surgical eyes (usually following corneal transplant surgery or related to complications from refractive surgery). Another common use for scleral lenses is in the special effects industry where they are used to protect the cornea and/or to give the eye an exotic appearance.

What Is A Scleral Lens?

Scleral lenses are large contact lenses that rest on the sclera (white part of the eye) with the remainder of the lens vaulting over the cornea. Tears are trapped between the lens and the cornea allowing sclerals to treat…