What Are Prosthetic Contact Lenses?

Prosthetic contact lenses might seem like a brand new concept, but actors have worn decorative prosthetic contact lenses for years. Not only can lenses be designed for special effects or theatrical performances, but prosthetic lenses can achieve a natural look and feel of any pair of eyes. Patients who suffered from permanent eye damage often remain with a visually unappealing or disturbing cornea. This has led many to hide their disfigured eye with mirrored sunglasses or eye patches. Fortunately, patients are slowly learning about prosthetic contact lenses as a revolutionary aesthetic solution for their injured eye.

Prosthetic contact lenses are worn by patients who suffered from:

• Eye injury or trauma
• Birth Defects, such as born with a bluish or cloudy cornea
• Strange pigmentation around the cornea and/or the white part of the eye
• Born without an iris or a partial iris
• Herpes in the eye

Dr. Moshe Roth crafts custom prosthetic contact lenses to restore eyes to their natural beauty. Not only do these prosthetic lenses cover up defects, but certain designs can help protect the eye.

For example, a patient came to our practice without an iris (no pupil), which meant their eyes were vulnerable to light. Typically, a pupil filters out a portion of the light so that we can get a clear picture without damaging any nerves or vessels in the eye. By creating a prosthetic contact lens with an iris, this reduced the amount of light that could enter the eye. Not only did the patient find confidence in their new appearance, but their eye was less at risk for UV ray damage or ocular damage.