Beyond Standard Lenses: Why Specialty Contacts (Like Sclerals) Offer Superior Comfort in Billings

29 Sep Beyond Standard Lenses: Why Specialty Contacts (Like Sclerals) Offer Superior Comfort in Billings

If you’ve been told you can’t wear contacts, or if your current lenses leave your eyes dry, blurry, or constantly irritated, this article is for you. Living in Billings, MT, means dealing with dry air and strong winds that make wearing standard contact lenses a challenge for many people. Fortunately, specialized contact lenses are available, designed not only to correct complicated prescriptions but also to provide exceptional, all-day comfort. At Total Eye Care, we specialize in these advanced options, such as Scleral lenses, which are custom-made solutions for “hard-to-fit” eyes. These lenses vault over the sensitive front surface of your eye, creating a comfortable pocket of moisture and providing clearer vision than standard contacts can offer.

The Big Difference: Why Standard Contacts Don’t Work for Everyone

Most traditional soft contact lenses are a fantastic option for correcting common vision problems, such as simple nearsightedness (myopia) or farsightedness (hyperopia). They are designed as a “one-size-fits-most” solution that rests directly on the cornea—the clear, dome-shaped window at the front of the eye.

However, these standard lenses fail when a patient has a more complicated eye shape or a chronic health condition. Here are the three main reasons why standard lenses cause problems:

1. Irregular Eye Shape: If your cornea is not perfectly round—perhaps due to a condition like keratoconus (where the cornea bulges into a cone shape) or following a surgery like a corneal transplant—a standard soft lens will slide around or wrinkle. This creates blurry, distorted vision that feels uncomfortable and unstable.
2. High Prescriptions or Astigmatism: If you have a powerful prescription or high Astigmatism (which means the cornea is shaped more like a football than a baseball), standard lenses may not be robust or stable enough to correct your vision perfectly.
3. Chronic Dry Eye: Standard soft contacts are made of materials that absorb water. This means the lens constantly draws moisture from the surface of your eye. In the dry climate of Billings, MT, this quick evaporation can worsen dry eye syndrome, causing constant burning, grittiness, and redness.

If you deal with any of these issues, you need to look beyond standard lenses.

What Makes Specialty Lenses Different?

Specialty contact lenses from Total Eye Care in Billings, Montana, are custom-designed vision correction tools tailored to fit the unique size and shape of an individual patient’s eye. They are not mass-produced; instead, they are tailored solutions for specific problems.

Here are two of the most popular types of specialty lenses we use at Total Eye Care:

#1. Scleral Lenses: The Moisture Vault

Scleral lenses are much larger than traditional contacts. Instead of resting on the sensitive cornea, they vault completely over the cornea and rest on the sclera (the white part of your eye).

1. Superior Comfort: Before insertion, Scleral lenses are filled with sterile, non-preserved saline solution. Once the lens is on your eye, this solution creates a fluid-filled reservoir between the lens and your cornea. This continuous bath of moisture is trapped against the eye all day, providing incredible comfort and relief for patients with severe, hard-to-fit contacts who suffer from dry eyes.
2. Clear Vision: Because the lens vaults over the irregular cornea, the fluid layer fills in all the bumps and gaps. This creates a perfectly smooth, new surface for light to focus through, resulting in dramatically sharper and more stable vision than ever before.

Scleral lenses are the ideal solution for patients with keratoconus, post-surgical corneas, and severe, chronic dry eye syndrome.

#2. Toric Lenses: Stabilizing Astigmatism

While some standard soft contacts offer correction for Astigmatism, custom Toric lenses are specialty options designed for people with higher or more complex forms of Astigmatism. These lenses have different powers in different parts of the lens to correct the corneal irregularity.

Crucially, they are designed with features that prevent the lens from rotating on the eye. This ensures the corrective power stays in the exact right place, giving you consistently clear and stable vision.

When Should You Choose Specialty Contacts?

If you are currently searching for a better vision solution, you are likely in the Consideration/Decision phase of your patient journey and highly motivated. Specialty lenses are worth discussing with your doctor if you have any of the following conditions:

1. Keratoconus: A condition where the cornea progressively thins and takes on a cone shape. Standard contacts cannot conform to this shape.
2. Chronic Dry Eye Syndrome: Especially in a harsh climate like Montana, where standard lenses quickly dry out and cause irritation.
3. High or Complex Astigmatism: When traditional soft lenses just don’t offer the sharpness you need.
4. Post-Surgical Changes: If you have undergone a corneal graft or refractive surgery (like LASIK) and still experience visual issues.
5. Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC): An inflammatory condition often caused by deposits on soft lenses.

The Total Eye Care Specialty Fitting Process in Billings

A specialty contact lens fitting is very different from a standard exam. It requires advanced diagnostic equipment and specific expertise to get the measurements exactly right.

At Total Eye Care, we use state-of-the-art corneal mapping to create a detailed map of your eye’s surface. This allows us to digitally design a lens that is truly custom-made for your unique anatomy. The fitting process ensures that whether you need Scleral lenses for comfort or custom Torics for clarity, your solution is optimized for the best possible vision and all-day wearability.

If you have struggled with traditional contacts and are seeking a specialist who can provide a lasting solution for your complex vision needs, do not wait. Schedule a comprehensive consultation with our doctors at Total Eye Care, and discover the superior comfort and crisp vision offered by specialty contact lenses in Billings, Montana.