Do You Have "Hard-to-Fit" Eyes? You Can Still Wear Contact Lenses

At some point in their lives, many eye care patients have been told they have "hard-to-fit" eyes. Whether they have a disease that distorts the shape of their cornea, or simply suffer from common conditions such as dry eyes or astigmatism, these people often believe that contact lenses are not an option for them.

In reality, innovations in contact lens manufacturing and design now enable contact lens wear for just about everyone. AllAboutVision.com's recently updated article, Contact Lenses for Hard-to-Fit Eyes, describes conditions that can make contact lens wear challenging, as well as the corresponding specialty contact lens options.

"The first step is educating yourself on possible contact lens options for your condition," says Gary Heiting, OD, AllAboutVision.com senior editor. "The second is finding an eye care practitioner who specializes in contact lens fitting – including challenging cases – for a thorough exam and consultation."

Contact lens specialists are usually more aware of the latest contact lens technology and welcome hard-to-fit patients. They use advanced equipment for measuring the cornea, the front surface of the eye on which a contact lens rests. Such equipment is especially useful when fitting people with corneal irregularities such as keratoconus. Patients with this progressive disease are often unable to achieve good vision with eyeglasses, and for them, specialty contact lenses can be life-changing.

Prospective contact lens wearers who are "hard to fit" should also expect to pay more for contact lenses. Hard-to-fit eyes require more of an eye care practitioner's time, and the lenses themselves are more expensive, often because they're custom-made.

The Hard-to-Fit article is part of the Contact Lens section of AllAboutVision.com, which has more than 20 articles about various types of contact lenses and 30 contact lens FAQs.

Online since 2000, AllAboutVision.com is an independent resource providing consumers with hundreds of pages of trustworthy, up-to-date information on vision correction and eye health. The site is a National Gold Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight and is certified by the Health on the Net Foundation.