Yes, glasses work fine over scleral lenses
A scleral lens sits on your eye; glasses sit on your nose, in front of it. They don’t interact physically, so you can wear any kind of glasses over your lenses: reading glasses, computer glasses, sunglasses, or safety glasses.
What matters is the prescription in them. Glasses you wear over your lenses are prescribed with the lenses in, to add only what the lens doesn’t already do.
The most common reason: reading glasses
Presbyopia is the gradual, age-related loss of the eye’s ability to focus up close. It typically begins in the early to mid-40s and progresses through the 50s, as the lens inside the eye becomes less flexible.[1] It happens whether or not you wear contact lenses.
Most scleral lenses correct one distance. In an international survey of fitters describing 419 fitted eyes, only 5 lenses had multifocal optics.[2] So when near vision starts to fade, the usual first step is a pair of reading glasses worn over the lenses. Multifocal scleral lenses exist but are uncommon; see are there multifocal scleral lenses.
Reading glasses over your lenses keep your distance vision exactly as it was. The trade-off is the usual one with readers: they’re on and off your face, and they blur the distance while you’re wearing them.
Topping up a small leftover correction
Sometimes a scleral lens leaves a small amount of blur uncorrected, for example some leftover astigmatism. Fitters check for this by testing your vision with the lens in, called an over-refraction.[3] Often the fix is a change to the lens itself, such as adding astigmatism correction to its front surface.[3] In some situations, glasses worn over the lens can cover a small remainder instead. Which is better for you is a conversation with your fitter. See do scleral lenses correct astigmatism.
Backup glasses are a different pair
The FDA advises every contact lens wearer to keep a backup pair of glasses with a current prescription.[5] For scleral lens wearers, that means glasses prescribed for your eyes without lenses, for days a lens breaks, gets lost, or your eye needs a rest.
Be prepared for those glasses to see less well than your lenses do. If you wear scleral lenses for an irregular cornea, glasses often can’t correct it as well. In a study of 157 eyes with keratoconus, average best-corrected vision was markedly better with scleral lenses than with glasses.[4] Backup glasses are still worth having: they get you through a day safely.
Safety glasses and sunglasses
If you work around dust, chemicals, or flying debris, or you play sports with any risk of a hit to the face, wear protective eyewear over your lenses. A contact lens is not eye protection. See scleral lenses for sports.
Sunglasses are fine too. Prescription sunglasses over your lenses follow the same rule: prescribed with the lenses in.
What to ask your fitter
- “Can you check my near and computer vision with my lenses in?”
- “Can you write a prescription for glasses to wear over my lenses?”
- “Is any blur left over that we should fix in the lens instead?”
- “Is my backup glasses prescription current?”
Common questions
Can I just buy drugstore reading glasses?
Some people do, but your two eyes may need different strengths, especially if your lenses leave a small amount of correction uncovered. Ask your fitter to check your near vision with your lenses in and write down what strength you need for reading and for the computer.
Can I wear my old glasses over my scleral lenses?
Probably not. Your old glasses correct the shape of your eye without a lens, and the scleral lens already does that job. Wearing both would usually overcorrect and blur your vision.
Do I need a separate prescription for glasses I wear over my lenses?
Yes. Glasses worn over your lenses, like reading glasses, are prescribed with the lenses in. Your backup glasses, for days without lenses, are prescribed without them. They're two different prescriptions.