Glaucoma is a common eye condition that can result in blindness.
Over 3 million Americans have glaucoma. There is no cure for glaucoma, however with advanced technology, eye doctors are able to diagnose and manage glaucoma better than ever before.
If you have glaucoma, you might wonder if you can wear contact lenses.
Most patients have "open-angle glaucoma." This is a painless type of glaucoma that most patients do not know they have until it is diagnosed by an eye doctor. In most cases of open angle glaucoma, regular contact lenses can be worn safely.
When patients progress to severe glaucoma, they may require glaucoma surgery. In this particular patient, she had a trabeculectomy, which you can see as a large bump on the top part of her eye. This helps her eye drain fluid out, preventing her eye pressure from increasing.
In patients with trabeculectomy, it makes contact lens fitting a bit more challenging due to the large bump. For this particular patient, we fit her with someting called the EyePrint GP. This lens fits safely onto her cornea with minimal contact with the bump.
Always ask your eye doctor what the safest option is for wearing contact lenses if you have glaucoma.
