DRY EYE

Wearing traditional contact lenses can be a convenient method of correcting vision —  unless you are suffering from dry eye.  Dry eye symptoms, such as red, itchy eyes, or a feeling of having something in your eye, tend to worsen when wearing traditional contact lenses.   One option for people with dry eyes is scleral contact lenses. These large-diameter rigid gas permeable (GP) lenses vault over the entire corneal surface to help keep the front surface of the eye from drying out.  Scleral lenses are custom-made to fit even irregular corneas and often provide sharper vision than soft contact lenses.  

Orthokeratology is another custom designed contact lens option which may be appropriate for certain dry eye patients. Orthokeratology (or ortho-k) is a contact lens fitting technique where specially designed gas permeable contact lenses are prescribed for overnight wear only. While you are asleep, the ortho-k lenses reshape the front surface of your eyes (cornea) and correct nearsightedness and other refractive errors so you can see clearly during the day without glasses or contact lenses.  By eliminating your need to wear contact lenses during the day, ortho-k may reduce contact lens-related dry eye symptoms.