What are the best contact lenses for dry eyes

If your lenses are often dry and scratchy in your eyes, you’ll be happy to hear that yes, there are some lenses that are better for your dry eyes than others. Materials and water content of your lenses make a big difference to how they feel in your eyes. In this guide, we’ll break down the specs of what contact lenses will work best for your dry eyes.

For general tips on how to safely care for dry eyes while wearing contact lenses, read this guide on how to wear contact lenses with dry eyes.

Which Contact Lenses Are Best for Dry Eyes? Key Specs to Look For

There are three main factors to evaluate when you’re choosing the best contact lens for dry eyes. Those are oxygen permeability, material used, and surface smoothness.

Oxygen Permeability

The fascinating thing about your eyes is that they actually need to be exposed to the air for their existence. Like all human cells, the cells of your eye’s cornea (the clear, front window part of your eye) rely on oxygen to live. But unlike all other human cells, they don’t have their own blood flow that supplies them with the oxygen they need. Instead, they depend on the atmosphere around them for oxygen, meaning that they need to be exposed to the air to “breathe.”

Which is why it’s so important that contact lenses should not block the flow of oxygen from the atmosphere into your eye and the cornea’s cells. Contact lenses with a high oxygen permeability do a good job of allowing the oxygen to flow through, preventing the dryness and eye fatigue that happens when the oxygen flow is cut off.

The minimum oxygen permeability to look for is 80 to 100 Dk/t (that’s the measurement of oxygen permeability.) Anything higher than that is even better.

Material

When you’re looking at contact lens materials, silicone hydrogel wins for dry eyes. The reason for this goes back to the oxygen permeability: Silicone hydrogel has an oxygen permeability of 100 to 150 Dk/t, with microscopic silicon channels that allow the oxygen to directly diffuse to the cornea.

Standard or traditional hydrogel lenses rely on water’s oxygen content to provide the cornea with water, which often results in eyes drying out.

Another material option is RGP lenses. For dry eyes, though, it’s hard to get used to these harder lenses and may take weeks to adapt.

Surface Smoothness

How smooth the surface of your lens is makes a big difference to how the lens feels in your eye. You feel your lens every time you blink, so for maximum comfort, you want to make sure that your lenses are as smooth as you can get.

You need advanced smooth lenses to protect your tear film (the layer of tears over your eyes) so that it doesn’t dry out. In scientific terms, what you’re looking for is a friction coefficient that’s between .005 and .01, low enough that it’s hardly felt and doesn’t disrupt your tear film.

The Water Content Paradox: High vs. Mid-Water Lenses

When you’re evaluating lenses for dry eyes, it’s almost intuitive to assume that you’d be looking for a higher water content. But in fact, that’s not the case. Higher water content in the lenses does not translate into wetter eyes. Wetter lenses can actually dry your eyes out.

High water lenses, like those with a 60% or more water content, often act like sponges, pulling moisture out of your natural tear film as the water content evaporates and needs to be replenished.

The sweet spot for water content is mid-range, at 47%. This level of water content retains enough moisture to stay in shape without stealing the tears from your eye.

Are Daily Contact Lenses Better for Dry Eyes Than Monthlies?

As a dry eye sufferer, you’ve probably already debated between the daily and monthly lens options. Why are daily lenses considered better for dry eyes?

Monthly lenses, as they’re reworn day after day, accumulate microscopic debris on the surface of the lens. This happens even when you’re super-duper careful about cleaning the lenses, because the buildup is an inevitable part of wearing lenses. That buildup causes surface friction in your eye, often resulting in further dryness.

With daily lenses, on the other hand, you’re starting every morning with a fresh lens. There’s no chance for buildup to happen. That’s what makes daily disposable lenses the gold standard for sensitive, dry eyes.

Eiyan Daily Lenses Check Every Box for Dry Eyes

Eiyan’s daily lenses are made from the ideal material for dry eyes, using Olifilcon B Silicone Hydrogel for maximum oxygen transmission. They’re formulated at the sweet spot of 47% water content and have all the convenience that daily disposable lenses offer dry eye contact lens wearers.

See this features comparison table:

Get Maximum Comfort from Your Lenses

With the right daily silicone hydrogel lens, your contact lens wearing can be more comfortable than you’d have imagined. Try Eiyan Daily lenses for your next prescription refill and feel the difference yourself.