Hard to fit Contact Lenses

Any patient with an irregular corneal curvature (the cornea is the clear tissue comprising the front surface of the eye) presents as a difficult contact lens fit. Specifically, patients with keratoconus, pellucid marginal degeneration, those with poor refractive surgery outcomes (i.e. lasik, radial keratotomy) and those who have undergone a corneal transplant typically have irregular corneal curvatures. In most cases, these patients greatly benefit from gas permeable (GP) contact lenses because these lenses have the unique ability to restore a normal curvature to the eye. In a sense, GP contact lenses mask the corneal irregularities.

But fitting GP contact lenses on irregular corneas is no easy task, especially if your eye care professional has little to no experience fitting them. Dr. H. Jeff Ward, Highlands Ranch Optical's optometrist, specializes in difficult GP contact lens fits. He has distinguished himself by completing a prestigious residency in Corneal Pathology and Contact Lenses at the New England College of Optometry. His residency included rotations at Harvard University's Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, The Scleral Lens Foundation of Boston, Cornea Consultants of Boston, and the New England Eye Institute. At each of these rotations, he routinely performed difficult contact lens fits. In addition, Dr. Ward is a certified Wave GP Contact Lens Fitter. Wave GP Contact Lenses are custom designed from a patient's "corneal fingerprint". In the fitting of such lenses, a special video camera (topographer) is used, in conjunction with sophisticated software to digitally map a patient's cornea. The data generated from this process is then used to create a GP contact lens that mirrors the actual shape of the eye. It is, hands down, the most sophisticated GP contact lens on the market, and is ideal for irregular corneas.

So if you are in need of a complicated contact lens fit, rest assured that Highlands Ranch Optical can meet your needs.