Dry Eyes - Scleral Lenses - Why I chose them for my dry eyes

I have suffered from dry eyes for a long,long,long time. My previous posts detail when and why I have dry eyes - more impressively known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca. In summary I have sjogrens syndrome which leads to less tear production in the eyes which means the eyes are constantly dry. After having various treatments for my dry eyes I finally found a wonderful solution - scleral lenses - which have been a god send. In my next posts I will explain what they look like, how they are inserted and how they have helped!

My scleral contact lenses

I've had a rather interesting journey with my dry eyes over the last few months. After the bout of corneal ulcers I suffered from last year, I set out to seek a more effective treatment for my dry eyes. After spending some hours researching on alternative treatments, I came across scleral lenses. These are very large, hard lenses, shaped like a dome with a flat edge (a bit like a flying saucer!). They cover the whole of the sclera (the white part) of the eye. The magic for dry eye patients is the dome of the lens is filled with saline, before being placed in the eye. The result is that the eye is kept covered with this fluid until the lens is removed.