Patient education · English
Scleral Lenses Explained: Fit, Fluid & Vision
See how scleral contact lenses vault the cornea, hold a fluid reservoir and are individually fitted for irregular corneas and severe dry eye.
Read the video transcript
Scleral Lenses. A lens that vaults the cornea.
At Eyecare Center of Orange County, Dr. Alexander Bonakdar has cared for patients for more than three decades. Trained at Bascom Palmer, board certified, and trusted by more than ten thousand Orange County patients since nineteen ninety one.
A scleral lens is larger than an ordinary contact lens. It rests on the white of the eye rather than on the cornea itself.
That leaves a space underneath, which holds sterile fluid against the surface of your eye all day long.
For an irregular cornea, the lens and the fluid together create a smooth new surface for light to pass through, which can restore vision glasses cannot.
Because the eye stays in constant contact with fluid, scleral lenses are also valuable for severe dry eye.
The gap under the lens has to be right, and we measure it rather than estimate it. Our anterior segment scan takes a cross section straight through the lens and your cornea, and shows us the exact clearance. That is why a well fitted scleral lens usually feels like nothing at all.
Ask us whether a scleral lens would help. They are fitted individually and measured precisely, and most people find them far more comfortable than they expect.