For many people, contacts provide a welcome break from wearing glasses to correct their sight. Not everyone, however, can comfortably wear standard soft contacts. That’s where hard to fit contacts come in. These FAQs from Highland Family Eye Care in Saint Paul explain more about hard to fit contacts and who may be a candidate for their use.

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What are hard to fit contact lenses?

Hard to fit contacts are designed for people with eye conditions that make it difficult for them to use conventional soft contact lenses to improve their sight. These conditions may include dry eye, keratoconus (bulging of the eye), astigmatism, presbyopia and giant papillary conjunctivitis. Some examples of hard to fit contact lenses are:

  • Rigid gas permeable lenses
  • Multifocal contact lenses
  • Scleral lenses
  • Toric lenses

Hard to fit contact lenses come with special features to make it possible for people with eye conditions to wear contacts to correct their sight.

How does an optometrist determine what contacts are the best fit for you?

Our eye doctor in Saint Paul will examine your eyes to see if you have a condition that would make it difficult to use standard contacts. If so, we’ll diagnose that condition and recommend hard to fit contacts suited to your visual needs. We encourage all our patients to schedule annual eye exams so we can monitor their eye health and catch problems in their early stages before they cause damage to their sight.

What is the contact lens process?

Fitting your eyes for contact lenses is a process that entails getting a standard eye exam, taking measurements of your eyes and undergoing a contact lens fitting. Through an eye exam, your eye doctor in Saint Paul will evaluate your visual clarity and the overall health of your eyes. This checkup will alert your optometrist to eye conditions that will determine the type of contact lens you can use to correct your sight.

Our optometrist will measure the curvature of the cornea of your eye and the pupil to determine contact size. We’ll also test your eyes for tear production as this could affect what kind of contacts you can wear. Depending on your eye condition, we’ll discuss your contact lens options and give you a trial pair so you can see how they fit for comfort and function. If they’re a good fit for you, we’ll order permanent contacts for long-term use.

See Our Saint Paul Optometrist for Hard to Fit Contacts

To learn more about hard to fit contacts and how they can benefit you, contact Highland Family Eye Care in Saint Paul at 651- 699-5400. We’re here to meet all your eyecare needs.