What Are Contact Lenses for Dry Eyes?
Contact lenses for dry eyes are designed to work in harmony with your natural tear film, helping to maintain moisture and reduce irritation throughout the day.
When you wear contact lenses, your tear film is split into two layers—one in front of the lens and one behind it. This means your eyes need enough tear volume to keep both the eye surface and the lens hydrated. Without this, dryness, friction, and discomfort can quickly develop.
We blink around 20,000 times a day, and each blink relies on a stable tear film. If your eyes are dry, blinking can increase friction between your eyelids and the contact lens, leading to symptoms such as:
Dryness and Irritation
Blurred or Fluctuating Vision
Reduced Wearing Time
Soft Lenses
Soft lenses can lose water content over time, when this happens moisture is drawn from the ocular surface. This is why people with dry eyes find that their wearing time is less than expected. A good tear volume is needed to keep the lens hydrated which makes lens wear more comfortable for longer. Some lenses have differing water contents so will have differing dry effects. Newer lens have improved materials that have better moisture retaining properties. The newer lenses designs tend also to have better surface properties and provide superior comfort especially in challenging environments.
Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses
Rigid gas permeable lenses work by forming a tear layer between the lens and the cornea. This tear layer is needed for the correct fitting of the lenses and to provide optimal visual correction. If insufficient, the lens will rest too much onto the cornea and can cause too much friction on the surface. At the same time, poor vision correction occurs without a decent tear layer. It is therefore even more important that there is an adequate amount of tears for rigid gas permeable lens wear.
Specialist Lenses for Dry Eye
At Dry Eye Centre, we have highly specialised Optometrists with expertise in specialist contact lens fitting with a tailored approach to contact lens fitting for dry eyes. For patients who struggle with standard lenses, we may recommend specialist options such as:
Ortho-K (Overnight Lenses)
Ortho-K lenses are worn overnight to gently reshape the front surface of the eye. This allows you to see clearly during the day without needing contact lenses.
They are particularly helpful if your dry eye symptoms are worse during daytime lens wear.
Benefits include:
- No need for lenses during the day
- Reduced exposure to dryness triggers
- Non-surgical and fully reversible vision correction
These lenses are typically suitable for people who are short-sighted (up to around -5.00D) with low astigmatism.
Scleral Lenses
Scleral lenses are one of the most effective solutions for moderate to severe dry eye.
Unlike standard lenses, they vault over the cornea and rest on the white part of the eye (the sclera). Before insertion, the lens is filled with preservative-free saline, creating a constant layer of moisture over the eye.
These lenses are particularly beneficial for patients with advanced dry eye or corneal surface conditions.
Key benefits:
- Continuous hydration throughout the day
- Protection of the corneal surface
- Reduced friction and irritation
- Improved comfort in severe dry eye cases
- Effective treatment option for corneal neuralgia