Scleral Contact Lenses Improve Vision and Lives: David’s Story

David lives in Gastonia, North Carolina and took his father to an ophthalmologist in Gastonia. While David was there, he mentioned to the doctor that he had keratoconus. The ophthalmologist told David that he should see Dr. Barbara Marcussen at Complete Eye Care in Belmont, North Carolina because she specialized in fitting people with keratoconus in scleral contact lenses to allow them to see clearly and comfortably.

David had tried several types of contact lenses over the years but could never find one that worked well for his eyes due to discomfort. He was using glasses to see but he was not able to see clearly with his glasses due to his distorted vision with keratoconus. People with Keratoconus need ridged lenses to see clearly but traditional ridged lenses are not comfortable for people with keratoconus.

David went to see Dr. Barbara Marcussen at Complete Eye Care who explained that, due to his keratoconus, he needed a ridged lens but she would design one that was a scleral lens. Scleral lenses give the comfort of a soft lens because they fit on the white part of the eye called the conjunctiva. They vault over the cornea, the most sensitive part of the eye. Nothing touches the cornea so the lens is extremely comfortable to wear all day. Dr. Barbara Marcussen is a certified WAVE contact lens designer which means she designs lenses for a person’s individual eye based on 11,000 points on their cornea. This specialty fitting gives them clear vision without any discomfort.

David was measured and a scleral lens was designed to allow him to see 20/20 all day without any distorted vision or any discomfort. He says he is thrilled beyond measure with how extremely comfortable scleral lenses are compared to wearing traditional ridged gas permeable contact lenses. David says he can wear his lenses all day and not have any redness, dryness, or discomfort.

David is now able to see clearly at night to drive and can make out people’s faces across the room quickly and easily while wearing the specially designed contact lenses. He states that he sees much better in his scleral lenses than he ever did in his glasses.

Scleral lenses are the best way to treat keratoconus because they provide clear vison by correcting the irregular astigmatism associated with keratoconus. Scleral contact lenses also provide the best comfort for people with keratoconus because they fit over the cornea and are designed to vault the cornea entirely. Since nothing touches the cornea, the eyes feel good all day while wearing scleral contact lenses. Scleral lenses are also an option for people instead of corneal transplants. It used to be that people with keratoconus underwent corneal transplants as a treatment, however, scleral contact lenses can be used to treat keratoconus for much longer that traditional gas permeable corneal lenses.

David is thrilled with the ophthalmologist that referred David to Complete Eye Care where he met Dr. Barbara Marcussen. He is now in his scleral contact lenses and does not need corneal transplant surgery for his keratoconus. He is able to wear his scleral lenses all day with good vision and excellent comfort.