Contact Lenses

At the Hartsdale Kerataconus Center inside Hartsdale Family Eye we specialize in Contact Lens Fittings for patients with Kerataconus and Corneal eye disease and Dry Eyes. We offer custom soft contact lenses, scleral contact lenses and synergeyes hybrid lenses. Our wide selection of contact lenses including disposable soft contact, bifocal/multifocal, toric, and colored lenses. Whether you wear daily, weekly or monthly disposables, lenses, check out our selection of lenses that fit your needs.

Specialty Lenses

Eye doctors throughout Westchester, New York refer their keratoconus patients to the Keratoconus Clinic at Hartsdale Family Eyecare for specialist care. That’s why Dr. Schwartz serves keratoconus patients and patients with special contact lens requirements.

Orthokeratology (CRT & VST)

Orthokeratology reduces mild nearsightedness or myopia, and keeps it from progressing. Special contact lenses are worn only during sleep to gently reshape the cornea for perfect unaided clear vision all day.

Scleral Lenses

Scleral lenses have offered many thousands of patients with loss due to keratoconus, post-refractive surgical complications, severe dry eyes and other corneal conditions, to once again see clearly and comfortably.

Not everyone is an ideal candidate for contact lenses. If you have one or more of the following conditions, contact lens wear may be more difficult:

But "difficult" doesn't mean impossible. Often, people with these conditions can wear contacts quite successfully. Let's take a closer look at each situation - and possible contact lens solutions:

Contact Lens Fitting in Hartsdale, Scarsdale, and White Plains NY

contact lens eye exam

A good contact lens fit starts with a thorough eye exam to ensure the most up-to-date prescription and rules out any pre-existing conditions that could interfere with contact lens wear.

We will determine the best fitting lens based on your lifestyle needs, the shape and health of your eye. In most cases, you’ll have the opportunity to try lenses on the same day as your exam. You can even go home with a few samples before making a final decision.

Our Hartsdale optometrists follow up the initial fitting and then make any necessary changes in fit or materials to get you the best possible fit. We teach all our patients proper contact lens care and also possible consequences if proper care is not taken. Then we continue with long-term follow-up to monitor the condition of the lenses and to ensure that proper hygiene is being maintained.

Contact Lenses for Hard to Fit Patients

Problem-solving contact lens fittings cost more

Fitting contact lenses to correct or treat any of the above conditions will generally take much more time than a regular contact lens fitting. These “hard-to-fit” cases usually require a series of office visits and multiple pairs of trial lenses before the final contact lens prescription can be determined. Also, the lenses required for these conditions are usually more costly than regular soft contact lenses. Therefore, fees for these fittings are higher than fees for regular contact lens fittings. Call our office for details.

Find out if you can wear contact lenses

If you are interested in wearing contact lenses, call our office to schedule a consultation. Even if you’ve been told you’re not a good candidate for contacts because you have one of the above conditions or for some other reason, we may be able to help you wear contact lenses safely and successfully.

Contact Lenses for Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a very common condition where the curvature of the front of the eye isn't round, but is instead shaped more like a football or an egg. This means one curve is steeper or flatter than the curve 90 degrees away. Astigmatism won't keep you from wearing contact lenses - it just means you need a different kind of lens.

Lenses specially designed to correct astigmatism are called "toric" lenses. Most toric lenses are soft lenses. Toric soft lenses have different corrective powers in different lens meridians, and design elements to keep the lens from rotating on the eye (so the varying corrective powers are aligned properly in front of the different meridians of the cornea).

In some cases, toric soft lenses may rotate too much on the eye, causing blur. If this happens, different brands that have different anti-rotation designs can be tried. If soft lens rotation continues to be a problem, scleral and corneal gas permeable (GP) lenses (with or without a toric design) can also correct astigmatism.

Contact Lenses for Dry Eyes

Dry eyes can make contact lens wear difficult and cause a number of symptoms, including:

a gritty, dry feeling
feeling as if something is in your eye
a burning sensation
eye redness (especially later in the day)
blurred vision

If you have dry eyes, the first step is to treat the condition. This can be done a number of ways, including artificial tears, medicated eye drops, nutritional supplements, and a doctor-performed procedure called punctal occlusion to close ducts in your eyelids that drain tears away from your eyes.

Once the dry eye condition is treated and symptoms are reduced or eliminated, contact lenses can be tried. Certain soft contact lens materials work better than others for dry eyes. Also, scleral and corneal GP lenses are sometimes better than soft lenses if there's a concern about dry eyes since these lenses don't dry out the way soft lenses can.

Replacing your contacts more frequently and reducing your wearing time each day (or removing them for specific tasks, such as computer work) can also reduce dry eye symptoms when wearing contacts.

Contact Lenses for Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis

Giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC) is an inflammatory reaction on the inner surface of the eyelids. One cause of GPC is protein deposits on soft contact lenses. (These deposits are from components of your tear film that stick to your lenses and become chemically altered.)

Usually, changing to a one-day disposable soft lens will solve this problem, since you just throw these lenses away at the end of the day before protein deposits can accumulate on them. Gas permeable lenses are also often a good solution, as protein deposits don't adhere as easily to GP lenses, and lens deposits on GP lenses are more easily removed with daily cleaning.

In some cases of GPC, a medicated eye drop may be required to reduce the inflammation before you can resume wearing contact lenses.

Contact Lenses for Presbyopia

Presbyopia is the normal loss of focusing ability up close when you reach your 40's.

Today, there are many designs of bifocal and multifocal contact lenses to correct presbyopia. Another option for presbyopia is monovision. This is wearing a contact lens in one eye for distance vision and a lens in the other eye that has a modified power for near vision.

During your contact lens fitting we can help you decide whether bifocal/multifocal contact lenses or monovision is best for you.

Contact Lenses for Keratoconus

Keratoconus is a relatively uncommon eye condition where the cornea becomes thinner and bulges forward. The term "keratoconus" comes from the Greek terms for cornea ("kerato") and cone-shaped ("conus"). The exact cause of keratoconus remains unknown, but it appears that oxidative damage from free radicals plays a role.

Scleral and Corneal gas permeable contact lenses are the treatment option of choice for mild and moderate keratoconus. Because they are rigid, scleral and corneal GP lenses can help contain the shape of the cornea to prevent further bulging of the cornea. They also can correct vision problems caused by keratoconus that cannot be corrected with eyeglasses or soft contacts.

In some cases, a soft contact lens is worn under the scleral and corneal GP lens for greater comfort. This technique is called "piggybacking." Another option for some patients is a hybrid contact lens that has a GP center, surrounded by a soft "skirt".

Contact Lenses After Corrective Eye Surgery

More than one million Americans each year have LASIK surgery to correct their eyesight. Sometimes, vision problems remain after surgery that can't be corrected with eyeglasses or a second surgical procedure. In these cases, gas permeable contact lenses can often restore visual acuity and eliminate problems like glare and halos at night.

Scleral and corneal GP lenses are also used to correct vision problems after corneal transplant surgery, including irregular astigmatism that cannot be corrected with eyeglasses.

Scleral and corneal GP lenses prescribed after LASIK and corneal transplants sometimes have a special design called a "reverse geometry" design to better conform to the altered shape of the cornea. The back surface of these lenses is flatter in the center and steeper in the periphery. (This is the opposite of a normal scleral and corneal GP lens design, which is steeper in the center and flattens in the periphery.)

Eye Exams for Contact Lenses

A routine exam won’t provide some of the measurements and testing that are required to determine if your eyes are suitable for contact lens wear, and to generate your contact lens Rx.
Hartsdale Keratoconus and Specialty Contact Lens Center

Eye doctors throughout Westchester, New York refer their keratoconus patients to the Keratoconus Clinic at Hartsdale Family Eyecare for specialist care. That’s why Dr. Schwartz serves keratoconus patients and patients with special contact lens requirements.
Orthokeratology (CRT & VST)

Orthokeratology is often referred to as Corneal Refractive Therapy (CRT) or Vision Shaping Therapy (VST) it is a reversible form of reducing mild nearsightedness or myopia. Special rigid therapeutic contact lenses are worn during sleep to gently reshape the front surface of the eye. The result is good, unaided daytime vision. patients wear the orthokeratology lenses nightly to maintain the daytime visual benefit.
Scleral Lenses

Scleral lenses have offered many thousands of patients who have endured vision loss due to keratoconus, post-refractive surgical complications, severe dry eyes and a variety of other corneal conditions to once again see clearly and comfortably.
Gas Permeable (GP) Contact Lenses

These rigid lenses aren’t as popular or well-known as soft lenses, but they offer the advantages of durability, crisp vision and high oxygen permeability.
Bifocal and Multifocal Contact Lenses

If you need correction for presbyopia but dislike the idea of bifocal eyeglasses, you have many contact lens options.
Toric Contact Lenses for Astigmatism

“I can’t wear soft contacts; I have astigmatism.” This once-true statement is now simply a myth.
Brands we Carry

We carry all of the top contact lens brands!
Contact Lens Care

To make sure your eyes and vision stay healthy while wearing contact lenses, please follow these few guidelines recommended by your doctor.
Colored Contact Lenses

Colored contact lenses allow you to change your eye color.