What are the new special contact lenses combining comfort advantages of soft lenses with crisp vision of rigid lenses?
These very special lenses, only available from a handful of practices in the UK, one type are called 'Hybrid Contact Lenses' another form are 'Semi-Scleral Contact Lenses', the former have a 'soft skirt', the later are designed for the very sensitive lid margin NOT to passover the lens edge, these both can give much improved comfort over conventional gas-permeable rigid lenses while keeping the inherent crispness of vision rigid lens wearers enjoy through the optic over the pupil.
They have many advantages, some of which are:
- Stable vision that varies very little compared to conventional rigid lenses, with far less lens movement
- Crisp vision compared to soft lenses
- Less prone to vision changes due to lens dehydration
- Suitable for certain careers/sports/activities where stable vision is needed; athletes, pilots, police etc. or when in dusty environments
- Less variation in vision compared to soft toric lenses for patients with astignmatism
- Improved comfort compared to rigid lenses
- Very high oxygen delivery to the eye surface
- To discuss if this may be suitable for you, in advance of a visit to the pratices in Widnes please see the email details at the bottom of this article.
Is it new, safe and effective?
The lenses have a long and successful track record. New developments mean, that after measurements using extremely accurate instrumentation, your lenses are designed and tailor made specifically for you, they are about as far away from mass market production as can be. You can read a testimonial from a patient here.
Could I be suitable?
Patients with high prescriptions and/or astigmatism can be suitable. The lenses offer the advantage of providing more stable vision than conventional lenses. Just as with all contact lenses a thorough examination is required, then an extremely specialised instrument is used to measure your eye's surface. This data is then used to produce individually tailored lenses to suit your precise needs. It is quite possible no one else in the world will have lenses to the same design!
What do I do next?
Please contact us to discuss Hybrid or Semi-Scleral Contact Lenses as they may relate specifcally to you.
