If you have been struggling with blurry vision, glare, or difficulty seeing at night, you may be experiencing signs of a corneal condition such as keratoconus. These issues can often go undiagnosed or be mistaken for common vision problems, but they require specialized care to manage effectively. At Palo Alto Eyes Optometry, we’re proud to offer advanced diagnostic tools and customized scleral lens technology to help our local community achieve clearer, more comfortable vision.

What Is Keratoconus?

Keratoconus is a progressive eye condition in which the normally round cornea becomes thin and develops a cone-like bulge. This irregular shape prevents light from focusing correctly on the retina, leading to distorted and blurred vision. Symptoms often include increased light sensitivity, glare, halos, and difficulty seeing at night.

Keratoconus typically begins in the teenage years or early adulthood and can progress over time. While mild cases may be corrected with glasses or soft contact lenses, more advanced stages often require specialty lens solutions.

Other Corneal Irregularities We Manage

In addition to keratoconus, patients may experience vision problems due to other corneal conditions, including:

• Pellucid Marginal Degeneration: A condition similar to keratoconus, but with thinning of the lower cornea.

• Post-Surgical Irregularities: Such as after LASIK or corneal transplants.

• Corneal Scarring or Trauma: Resulting in irregular surfaces that make vision correction with glasses or soft lenses difficult.

• Keratoglobus: A rare disorder involving extreme thinning and bulging of the entire cornea.

We specialize in providing tailored solutions for these complex cases using advanced diagnostic tools and lens technology.

How Scleral Contact Lenses Help

Scleral contact lenses are large-diameter gas-permeable lenses that vault over the cornea and rest on the sclera (white part of the eye). These lenses create a smooth optical surface over the irregular cornea and trap a layer of fluid against the eye, which enhances both comfort and vision quality.

Benefits of scleral lenses include:

• Improved visual clarity for patients with corneal irregularities

• Enhanced comfort due to the fluid reservoir

• Reduced glare, halos, and visual distortions

• Stability on the eye, making them ideal for active lifestyles

Targeting Higher-Order Aberrations

At Palo Alto Eyes Optometry, we go beyond conventional scleral lens fittings by utilizing the OVITZ xwave Aberrometer; a cutting-edge device that measures higher-order aberrations (HOAs) in your vision. HOAs are subtle imperfections in the eye’s optical system that standard lenses often cannot correct. These aberrations are commonly responsible for symptoms like glare, starbursts, and poor night vision. With the precision data from the OVITZ xwave, we can design HOA-corrected scleral lenses that directly address these distortions. The result is sharper, clearer, and more comfortable vision.

OVITZ-Added Lenses

To further optimize outcomes for patients with complex corneal conditions, we offer OVITZ Added Lenses, which are custom premium scleral lenses engineered to provide the highest level of visual correction available today. These lenses incorporate advanced wavefront-guided optics into their design, allowing for correction of minute imperfections that go unnoticed in traditional or even standard scleral lenses.

Patients who receive OVITZ-Added Lenses often report:

• Significantly clearer and more natural vision

• Dramatic reductions in glare and halos

• Enhanced contrast sensitivity and depth perception

These lenses are particularly effective for those with severe keratoconus, post-surgical complications, or longstanding visual discomfort despite previous treatments.

Experience Advanced Eye Care in Palo Alto, California

Keratoconus and other corneal irregularities don’t have to compromise your quality of life. At Palo Alto Eyes Optometry, we combine clinical expertise with advanced technology like the OVITZ xwave Aberrometer and OVITZ Added Lenses to help our patients achieve the clearest, most comfortable vision possible.

Schedule your eye exam with our team today to explore custom scleral lens options for keratoconus and take the first step toward clearer, more comfortable vision.