Scleral Lens Clinic

Akron Children's Hospital's Scleral Lens Clinic aims to help patients who do not tolerate soft contact lenses well, have inadequate vision in their soft lenses, or have eye conditions that necessitate scleral lenses.

A scleral lens is larger and more rigid than a typical soft contact lens. The outer edges rest on the white of the eye (the sclera) instead of the cornea to allow for a liquid barrier between the lens and the eye. Scleral lenses are custom-designed for each patient to ensure maximum comfort and vision.

Conditions that may benefit from scleral lenses include:

• Significant refractive error (with intolerance or inadequate vision with soft lenses)
• Severe, chronic ocular allergies
• Certain corneal conditions
• To protect against exposure (eyelid coloboma, eyelid ectropion, exophthalmos, nerve palsies, eyelid entropion/trichiasis)
• Corneal transplant patients
• Trauma (corneal scarring/irregularities, chemical or burn injuries)
• Severe dry eye syndrome
• Sjogren’s syndrome
• Graft-versus-Host Disease
• Neurotrophic Keratopathy
• Stevens-Johnson syndrome