Specialised Contact Lenses
Clear, comfortable vision where standard lenses fall short, gas permeable and scleral lenses, individually crafted to your eyes.
Advanced lenses for complex eyes
For many patients, these lenses represent the single biggest improvement in vision quality they have ever experienced.
We specialise in fitting advanced hard contact lenses, including Gas Permeable (GP/RGP) and scleral lenses, for patients with conditions that can't be adequately corrected with spectacles or standard soft contacts.
These custom-designed lenses are individually crafted to the precise shape of your cornea, delivering a level of clarity and comfort that off-the-shelf solutions simply can't match.
The principle is elegant. A rigid lens doesn't drape over an irregular cornea the way a soft lens does. It holds its own perfect optical shape, and the tear film beneath it fills in every distortion underneath. Your eye effectively gets a new front surface, and the blur that glasses could never resolve simply disappears.
Conditions we treat with specialised lenses
Hard and scleral lenses are particularly effective where the cornea is irregular, unstable or too complex for conventional correction.
Keratoconus
A progressive thinning that bulges the cornea into a cone shape, causing distortion that glasses can't correct. Scleral and RGP lenses are the most effective optical solution for most patients.
Corneal Irregularities
Uneven or distorted corneal surfaces, including pellucid marginal degeneration and irregular astigmatism, benefit from a rigid lens that creates a smooth, uniform optical surface.
Post-Corneal Surgery
Patients with irregular outcomes after refractive surgery (LASIK, PRK) often find that custom hard lenses restore the visual quality they hoped surgery would deliver.
Post-Corneal Transplant
A transplanted cornea rarely heals perfectly flat. Scleral lenses are frequently the best route to clear, comfortable vision after a corneal graft.
Failed Conventional Correction
If glasses or soft lenses haven't delivered adequate vision, a specialised GP or scleral assessment may reveal options that conventional correction never explored.
High or Complex Prescriptions
Very high myopia, hyperopia or irregular astigmatism can push spectacle lenses to their limits. Hard lenses often provide sharper optics and better visual performance.
Gas permeable vs scleral lenses
Both are rigid, both are custom-made, and both deliver optics a soft lens cannot. The difference is how they sit on your eye, and which one suits you is exactly what the fitting determines.
Gas Permeable (RGP) Lenses
- Smaller diameter, sits directly on the cornea
- Highly oxygen-permeable material
- Excellent optics for moderate irregularity
- Durable and long-lasting
- Short initial adaptation period
- Suited to keratoconus, high myopia and astigmatism
Scleral Lenses
- Large diameter, vaults over the cornea entirely
- Fluid reservoir between lens and cornea
- Outstanding comfort, even for dry eyes
- Exceptional stability and visual consistency
- Ideal for advanced keratoconus and post-transplant
- The best option when RGP lenses aren't tolerated
How specialised lens fitting works
A specialised fit is a collaboration, not a transaction. Expect two or three visits before your final lenses are ordered. That iteration is what makes the result worth having.
Initial Assessment
A thorough consultation and eye health review to understand your condition, history and visual needs.
Corneal Topography
We map your cornea in fine detail to build a precise, three-dimensional picture that guides the lens design.
Trial Lens Fitting
Trial lenses let us assess fit, comfort and vision on your eye, refining the design before ordering.
Custom Order & Delivery
Your bespoke lenses are manufactured to specification, then fitted with guidance on care and handling.
What patients ask us most
This is the reputation they've never quite shaken, and it's out of date. Modern gas permeable materials bear little resemblance to the rigid lenses of decades past, and scleral lenses rest on the white of the eye, not the sensitive cornea at all, while a reservoir of fluid cushions the surface. Many scleral wearers describe them as more comfortable than the soft lenses they gave up on.
With scleral lenses, most patients are comfortable almost immediately. Corneal RGP lenses take longer, typically one to two weeks of building up wearing time before they feel unremarkable. We guide you through that period and adjust as needed.
Considerably longer than soft lenses, commonly one to two years with proper care, and sometimes more. They're a larger outlay at the start and generally more economical over time.
Very possibly, yes, and scleral lenses in particular are often prescribed because of dry eye rather than in spite of it. The lens holds a permanent reservoir of saline against the cornea, keeping the eye bathed all day. Patients who couldn't tolerate soft lenses for an hour frequently manage sclerals comfortably from morning to night.
Come and see us before you accept that. Patients arrive having been told their keratoconus, corneal graft or post-LASIK irregularity has reached the limit of what correction can achieve, and a properly fitted scleral lens changes the picture entirely. It costs one assessment to find out.
Consultations are charged at medical aid rates and most major schemes are accepted. Cover for speciality lenses varies considerably by plan. Some contribute substantially where there's a clinical indication such as keratoconus. We'll set out the full costs before anything is ordered.
Rediscover clear, comfortable vision
If glasses or soft lenses haven't worked for you, a specialised lens assessment could change everything. Book with our team today.