Suraj Eye Institute
Contact Lens Clinic
This section provides patient education on contact lenses — the types we fit, how they are fitted, and how to wear them safely. At Suraj Eye Institute, our contact lens clinic offers everything from everyday soft lenses to specialty lenses for astigmatism, keratoconus, irregular corneas and severe dry eye. Please select your preferred language above.
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An Introduction to Contact Lenses
कॉन्टैक्ट लेंस: एक परिचय
कॉन्टॅक्ट लेन्स: एक परिचय
Contact lenses are thin, curved lenses worn directly on the tear film that covers the front of the eye (the cornea). Unlike spectacles, which sit about a centimetre in front of the eye, a contact lens becomes the eye’s new front surface and moves with it — giving natural, wide-angle vision with no frames in the way.
They correct the same problems as glasses: short sight (myopia), long sight (hypermetropia), astigmatism, and the age-related need for reading glasses (presbyopia). They can also do things glasses cannot — give clear vision in keratoconus and other irregular corneas, protect a healing eye, or restore a comfortable surface in severe dry eye.
People choose lenses for many reasons: sport and an active lifestyle, work where glasses fog up or get in the way, cosmetic preference, or a prescription that glasses cannot fully correct. Children and teenagers may also use them as part of myopia control.
Almost anyone motivated to look after them can wear contact lenses — but they are medical devices, not a cosmetic accessory. A proper professional assessment, the right lens for your eyes, and good hygiene are what keep wear safe and comfortable. At Suraj Eye Institute, our contact lens clinic guides you through every step.
How Contact Lenses Are Fitted
कॉन्टैक्ट लेंस कैसे फिट किए जाते हैं
कॉन्टॅक्ट लेन्स कशी बसवली जातात
A contact lens is fitted, not simply “prescribed.” Because it sits directly on the eye, it must match both your optical power and the exact size and curvature of your cornea. A spectacle prescription alone is not enough.
The fitting begins with a full eye examination: vision and refraction, a check of the front of the eye and tear film, and measurement of the cornea. We measure its curvature (keratometry) and often map its whole surface (corneal topography), which tells us the base curve and diameter of lens you need.
A trial lens is then placed on the eye and assessed on the slit-lamp microscope. For rigid lenses we use a drop of fluorescein dye: the pattern of green tears under the lens shows whether the fit is too flat, too steep, or well aligned. We check movement, centration and comfort, then fine-tune before confirming the final specification.
You are then taught to insert, remove and care for your lenses, and given a wearing schedule. Follow-up visits make sure the eye stays healthy — a lens that fits beautifully on day one must keep fitting as the eye and tear film change over time. This is why lenses should always be fitted and reviewed professionally, never simply bought over the counter.
Soft Contact Lenses
सॉफ्ट कॉन्टैक्ट लेंस
सॉफ्ट कॉन्टॅक्ट लेन्स
Soft contact lenses are the most widely worn lenses in the world. They are made of flexible, water-containing plastics (hydrogel and silicone-hydrogel) that drape gently over the cornea and the white of the eye. Because they are large and soft, they feel comfortable almost immediately and are easy to adapt to.
They correct short sight, long sight and — in their toric form — astigmatism, and are available as multifocals for presbyopia. Most people use them for everyday wear, sport and social occasions.
The biggest advance has been the material. Modern silicone-hydrogel lenses transmit far more oxygen to the cornea than older hydrogels, keeping the eye whiter and healthier through the day. Comfort also depends on water content and surface wettability, which your fitter matches to your eyes and tear film.
Soft lenses are replaced on a schedule. Daily disposables — a fresh sterile pair each morning, discarded at night — are the most hygienic and convenient option, with nothing to clean or store. Fortnightly and monthly lenses are more economical but must be cleaned and stored correctly every night. The golden rule is simple: never wear a lens longer than its replacement interval, and never sleep in lenses unless they are specifically prescribed for it.
Toric Contact Lenses for Astigmatism
दृष्टिवैषम्य के लिए टोरिक लेंस
दृष्टिवैषम्यासाठी टोरिक लेन्स
Astigmatism is one of the commonest reasons vision is not perfectly clear. Instead of being shaped like a round football, the cornea (or sometimes the eye’s natural lens) is curved more in one direction than another — like a rugby ball. Light is then focused at two points rather than one, blurring vision at all distances.
An ordinary round (spherical) lens cannot correct this, because the eye needs different amounts of correction in different directions. A toric lens carries two powers — one for each principal meridian — and it must stay correctly oriented on the eye to line that correction up with the cornea.
Keeping the lens from rotating is the clever part. Soft toric lenses use a stabilisation design — a slightly thicker, weighted lower zone, or thin zones at the sides — so that blinking and gravity settle the lens into the same position every time. Tiny laser marks let your fitter confirm the lens is sitting on axis.
Toric lenses are available as daily, fortnightly and monthly soft lenses, and as rigid gas-permeable lenses for higher or more demanding astigmatism. With a careful fitting, people who were told they “can’t wear lenses because of astigmatism” usually achieve crisp, stable vision.
Rose K Lenses for Keratoconus
केराटोकोनस के लिए Rose K लेंस
केराटोकोनससाठी Rose K लेन्स
Keratoconus is a condition in which the cornea — normally a smooth dome — gradually thins and bulges into an irregular cone. As the cone develops, vision becomes distorted and blurred, and glasses or ordinary soft lenses can no longer give clear sight because they cannot mask the irregular surface.
The Rose K lens is a specially designed rigid gas-permeable (RGP) lens created specifically for keratoconus and other irregular corneas. Its complex shape is computed to match the cone — vaulting the steep apex while aligning gently with the surrounding cornea. A whole family of designs covers early, advanced, oval (pellucid) and post-graft corneas.
The principle is elegant: a rigid lens replaces the eye’s irregular front surface with a perfectly smooth one. The space between lens and cornea fills with tears, and light focuses through this smooth tear-and-lens system — often restoring vision far better than any spectacle can. Because the material is highly oxygen-permeable, the cornea stays healthy during wear.
Fitting a Rose K lens is a skilled, step-by-step process using trial lenses and fluorescein assessment to achieve a fit that clears the cone apex, centres well, and moves enough to stay healthy. The reward is clear, comfortable vision for many people who would otherwise face surgery. Rose K lenses do not cure keratoconus or halt its progression — for that, treatments such as corneal cross-linking may be advised — but they remain the mainstay of visual rehabilitation.
Scleral Contact Lenses
स्क्लेरल कॉन्टैक्ट लेंस
स्क्लेरल कॉन्टॅक्ट लेन्स
Scleral lenses are large-diameter rigid gas-permeable lenses that vault right over the cornea without touching it, resting instead on the white of the eye (the sclera). The space between the lens and the cornea is filled with sterile saline, creating a fluid reservoir that bathes the eye all day.
This design solves two problems at once. First, by replacing an irregular cornea with a smooth optical surface and a fluid layer, it gives excellent vision in keratoconus, after corneal grafts, after refractive surgery, and in other distorted corneas. Second, because the lens never touches the sensitive cornea and continuously bathes it in fluid, it is exceptionally comfortable and protects eyes that ordinary lenses cannot tolerate.
Scleral lenses are therefore valuable in two broad groups: those needing better vision from an irregular cornea, and those needing relief and protection — for example in moderate-to-severe dry eye and ocular surface disease. Many people who had given up on contact lenses entirely can wear sclerals comfortably for long hours.
The lenses are larger than other lenses and take a little practice to insert — they are filled with saline first and applied with a small holder or the fingers — but they do not move about and rarely dislodge during sport. Fitting is highly customised, using the eye’s measurements to set the vault over the cornea and the landing on the sclera so the lens stays healthy and comfortable.
Boston / BostonSight PROSE Lenses
Boston / PROSE लेंस
Boston / PROSE लेन्स
For the most severely diseased ocular surfaces, an ordinary lens — even a scleral lens — may not be enough. The Boston scleral lens, and its modern form PROSE (Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem), is a fully custom-designed, large rigid device that does more than correct vision: it creates and maintains a healthy environment for the front of the eye.
Like a scleral lens, a PROSE device vaults over the cornea and holds a reservoir of sterile fluid against it; but each device is individually designed and refined for one eye, often over several sittings, to manage surfaces that are scarred, irregular, dry or chronically inflamed. The fluid reservoir continuously bathes the cornea, while the smooth outer surface lets the eyelid glide over the device instead of rubbing a raw, sensitive surface.
These devices are used for conditions that can be sight-threatening and distressing: severe dry eye, Stevens–Johnson syndrome, ocular graft-versus-host disease after bone-marrow transplant, ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, exposure and neurotrophic problems, and severely irregular corneas. By protecting and hydrating the surface, they can relieve pain and light sensitivity, support healing, and restore vision at the same time.
Fitting is a specialised process, and the device is worn during waking hours, then removed and cleaned daily. For people with these difficult conditions, a Boston/PROSE device can be life-changing — turning constant discomfort and poor vision into comfortable, functional sight.
Multifocal Lenses for Presbyopia
प्रेसबायोपिया के लिए मल्टीफोकल लेंस
प्रेसबायोपियासाठी मल्टिफोकल लेन्स
From the mid-forties, the eye’s natural lens gradually loses its ability to change focus for near work — a normal change called presbyopia, the reason most people need reading glasses with age. Multifocal contact lenses are designed to restore a range of clear vision without reaching for readers.
Unlike a spectacle bifocal with a visible line, most multifocal contact lenses use simultaneous vision: the lens carries several powers arranged in concentric rings — typically distance, intermediate and near. Both near and distant images reach the retina together, and the brain quickly learns to select whichever is in focus for the task at hand.
Multifocal lenses are available as soft daily, fortnightly and monthly lenses, and in toric versions for those who also have astigmatism. An alternative for some people is monovision, where one eye is corrected for distance and the other for near; we will discuss which approach suits your eyes, work and hobbies.
Adapting to multifocals takes a little time and realistic expectations. Vision is excellent for most everyday tasks, though very small print or dim light may still occasionally need glasses. A careful fitting, the right design and a short adaptation period give most people comfortable freedom from reading glasses for much of the day.
Therapeutic & Bandage Contact Lenses
चिकित्सीय व बैंडेज लेंस
उपचारात्मक व बँडेज लेन्स
Not every contact lens is worn to correct vision. A bandage (therapeutic) lens is a soft lens used as a medical dressing for the front of the eye — a clear, protective “plaster” placed over the cornea by your ophthalmologist.
The cornea is one of the most densely nerve-supplied tissues in the body, so a surface wound is intensely painful and is irritated further each time the eyelid blinks across it. A bandage lens covers the wound so the lid glides over a smooth surface instead, easing pain immediately and allowing the delicate surface cells to heal undisturbed.
Bandage lenses are used after corneal abrasions and injuries, after certain eye surgeries (including some laser and corneal procedures), in recurrent corneal erosion, and to protect the surface in some cases of severe dry eye or persistent surface defects. They are sometimes also used to hold medication against the eye or to protect a graft.
A bandage lens is always used under medical supervision: it is fitted, monitored and removed by your eye doctor, often alongside antibiotic or lubricating drops, and is not something to insert or change yourself. Used correctly, it is a simple, powerful way to relieve pain and speed healing.
Caring for Your Contact Lenses
अपने कॉन्टैक्ट लेंस की देखभाल
तुमच्या कॉन्टॅक्ट लेन्सची काळजी
A contact lens is only as healthy as the way it is looked after. The great majority of lens-related problems come not from the lens itself but from how it is cleaned, stored and worn. A few simple habits keep your eyes safe and your lenses comfortable.
Always start with clean, dry hands. For reusable lenses, “rub and rinse” each lens with fresh solution every time you remove it — even “no-rub” solutions work better with a gentle rub — and store it in a clean case filled with fresh solution, never yesterday’s. Never “top up” old solution, and replace the lens case itself every one to three months.
Water and lenses do not mix. Tap water, swimming pools and saliva all carry germs — including Acanthamoeba, an organism that causes a devastating corneal infection — so lenses should never be rinsed in water or worn while swimming or showering unless sealed goggles are used. Take lenses out before sleeping unless they are specifically prescribed for overnight wear.
Finally, respect the replacement schedule: discard daily lenses every day and reusables on time, even if they still feel fine. Keep your routine eye-care appointments so we can check that your lenses still fit and your eyes remain healthy — and always keep a pair of up-to-date glasses to fall back on.
Staying Safe: Avoiding Infections & Complications
सुरक्षित रहें: संक्रमण व जटिलताओं से बचाव
सुरक्षित राहा: संसर्ग व गुंतागुंत टाळणे
Worn sensibly, contact lenses are very safe — but they are medical devices, and misuse can cause real harm. The most serious risk is microbial keratitis, an infection or ulcer of the cornea, which can threaten sight and is a medical emergency. The good news is that almost all such problems are preventable.
The biggest avoidable risk factors are sleeping in lenses (which can multiply the risk of infection several-fold), exposing lenses to water, poor hand and case hygiene, over-wearing lenses beyond their replacement date, and buying cosmetic or coloured lenses without a proper fitting. Smoking and dry, dusty environments add to the risk.
Learn the warning signs and act on them quickly. Healthy lens wear is white, comfortable and clear. Be alert to redness that won’t settle, pain, marked sensitivity to light, watering or discharge, and any sudden blurring of vision. A useful rule is RSVP — Redness, Sensitivity to light, Vision changes, Pain — any of which means trouble.
If you ever notice these signs, the rule is simple: take the lenses out and do not put them back, and contact your eye-care provider the same day — sooner if pain or blurring is marked. Do not “wait and see,” and do not just remove the lens and carry on. Early treatment of a corneal infection usually means a full recovery; delay is what causes lasting damage. At Suraj Eye Institute, our team is available to assess any red or painful eye promptly.