Scleral lenses question

[dave25]

I've read a lot of good things on here about scleral lenses and I was wondering if there are any side effects? I remember asking my doc about them a while back and he said one of the side effects was that there was a very small chance of getting an infection that caused blindness. Is this true?

[heyjude0701]

I've read a lot of good things on here about scleral lenses and I was wondering if there are any side effects? I remember asking my doc about them a while back and he said one of the side effects was that there was a very small chance of getting an infection that caused blindness. Is this true?

As I understand it, as long as you follow the recommended procedures to clean and soak the lenses, the risk of infection is no greater than it is for any contact lenses. I read that there is a small chance of corneal edema but it develops slowly so as long as you have an eye exam at least once a year, it shouldn't be a problem. I am not an expert though, and I have only read about it. I asked my PROSE doctor at Weill Cornell about it, and she said that as long as I have my eyes examined regularly I shouldn't worry about it. I should add that I have glaucoma and have follow-ups with my ophthalmologist every three months, and my PROSE doctor said that would be fine and that any ophthalmologist should recognize if there is corneal edema.