There are instances when the contact lens can result in much better vision than spectacles, for example in patients with high degrees of corneal astigmatism that are not fully correctable with glasses. This accounts for the benefit of contact lenses in patients with kera-toconus. Soft contact lenses are sometimes used as "bandage lenses" to protect the cornea after corneal burns or in patients with bullous kera-topathy. The contact lens has a special importance in the correction of unilateral aphakia (see Chapter 11) by reducing the image size on the retina to such an extent that the two eyes can once again be used together. If eye drops are being regularly instilled into the eyes, soft contact lenses can absorb the drug being used or the preservative in the drops. In fact, attempts have been made to use soft contact lenses as a slow-release system by impregnating them with the drug before fitting.
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