Specialty Contact Lenses

For most patients “normal” or off-the-shelf contacts can provide sharp vision, a comfortable wearing experience, and convenient maintenance systems that are healthy for them. However, for some patients, normal lenses are not sufficient due to issues such as high prescriptions, high astigmatism, disease such as keratoconus, scars on the eye, advanced dryness and much more.

Specialty Contact Lenses

For most patients “normal” or off-the-shelf contacts can provide sharp vision, a comfortable wearing experience, and convenient maintenance systems that are healthy for them. However, for some patients, normal lenses are not sufficient due to issues such as high prescriptions, high astigmatism, disease such as keratoconus, scars on the eye, advanced dryness and much more.

There is no one size fits all or generic approach for these patients, and at Central Ohio Vision and Eyecare, we enjoy working with all of our patients to get the best possible vision, comfort, and fit with their contacts. 

In order to provide personalized service, we routinely use many of the following types of lenses

  • Custom soft lenses (sphere, multifocal and toric)
  • Rigid Gas Permeable lenses (RGP) (sphere, multifocal and toric)
  • Scleral Lenses (sphere, multifocal and toric)

These speciality lenses give us many more options, which helps us provide the type of eyecare we believe in on a patient-by-patient basis. For instance, custom soft lenses are similar to “normal” contacts but are uniquely made for one patient, their comfort and handling are typically very similar to normal lenses. Working with speciality contacts allows us to control all powers, size, and fit of the lens. Normal lenses rarely give us this kind of flexibility.

Types of Speciality Contacts We Offer

Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP or GP) lenses are sometimes mistaken for old-fashioned lenses. The old hard contact lenses that people know are rarely used today. Gas permeable lenses allow more oxygen to the cornea than traditional soft contact lenses. They don’t change their shape when you blink or move on your eyes because they are rigid. This means that they offer sharper vision than soft contacts. They are much more durable than soft lenses and can usually last for one year with proper maintenance. RGP lenses also come in many bifocal and multifocal designs.

Scleral lenses are a type of rigid gas permeable lens. Typically about the size of a soft lens, scleral lenses combine the benefits of a soft lens with those of an RGP – comfort, best possible vision, and ease of use. Scleral lenses correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, presbyopia, and are one of the best solutions for people who need the sharpest, and most comfortable vision possible.

Multifocal lenses are very versatile, and we normally try to use off-the-shelf lenses for multifocal fits. Our goal is to get the best vision possible at near and far and to reduce the need for reading glasses by 90% for our multifocal patients. When possible, we recommend a daily disposable lens, due to the comfort, health, and convenience they provide. Newer lenses allow us to correct astigmatism and still have multifocal lenses. For our custom lenses (scleral, rgp, and custom soft) we can add multifocal optics to meet our patient’s needs.

For all speciality lenses, they may require several visits to get the best vision and comfort possible. That’s why we work to make contact lens exams affordable, accessible, and easy to schedule for all of our patients. We never change for additional checks, and we will work with our patients until they are happy with their contact lenses. Make an appointment today!