Dry Eye

Patients with severe dry eye probably are not good candidates for contact lens use. However, patients with moderate to mild dry eye may do well with contact lenses. Some soft lenses are marketed for dry eye patients; these lenses often have lower water content, more thickness, and/or better wettability. They may be made of material that is less prone to lens deposit formation.

Some patients may succeed in contact lens wear with the placement of punctal plugs. Occasionally, the signs and symptoms of dry eye result from incomplete or infrequent blinking (fewer than 12 times per minute). Scleral lenses are being used for some cases of severe dry eye.

Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series : Section 3 - Clinical Optics. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.