Travel Tips for Scleral Lens Wearers
November 18, 2024
If you wear scleral contacts lenses, here are valuable tips to make airplane travel easier. Travel is stressful enough, so avoid getting your scleral contact lens solution confiscated by airport security and remember to bring your scleral lens removal tool.
Scleral Lens Solutions and Airport Security
Airport security restricts the volume of liquid that you can check-in. This affects packing scleral lens solutions for carry-on. In general, you can bring up to 3.4 ounces of a particular contact lens solution. TSA states that you can bring onboard a “reasonable” amount that is greater than 3.4 ounces if declared, but it is ultimately up to the TSA officer.
The majority of our scleral lens patients use just two contact lens solutions in combination:
- Boston Simplus which is multipurpose fo
r cleaning, disinfecting, and conditioning. Boston Simplus is sold in 1.0-ounce travel sizes so you can carry onboard three of the travel size Boston Simplus bottles. It is somewhat perplexing that the standard bottle-size for Boston Simplus is 3.5-ounces, which is just above the safe-harbor 3.4 ounces. - Non-preserved saline, e.g. inhalation saline in 5mL plastic disposable vials. For non-preserved saline, since 3.4 ounces of fluid is equivalent to 100mL. That means you can carry-on 20 vials of 5mL non-preserved saline. The non-preserved saline is for rinsing off Boston Simplus off the scleral lens, and also for filling the bowl of the lens prior to lens application.
Clear Care Users Beware
If you are in the minority of patients instructed by your eye care practitioners to use the peroxide-based disinfectant, Clear Care, you should know that there is a higher likelihood that more than 3.4 ounces of it will get confiscated by airport security especially in certain international destinations. This is because Clear Care contains hydrogen peroxide, an oxidizer used in some improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
What if I Forget Non-preserved Saline?
Preservative free saline usually is not available at drugstores. But in a pinch, you can use non-preserved artificial tears to fill your scleral contact lenses. Non-preserved artificial tears are widely available at any drugstore and most supermarkets. The reason non-preserved artificial tears are not routinely used to fill scleral lenses is because they are considerably more expensive to use than inhalation saline on an ongoing basis.
Pack a DMV Remover and Flat Mirror
Make sure you pack a DMV scleral lens device to remove your scleral lenses! This is supremely important, to the extent that it is a good idea to bring more than one. ReVision Optometry never recommends removing your scleral lenses with your fingers, fingernails, or eyelids due to the increased risk of ocular abrasion. Unfortunately, DMV removers are not available for purchase in drugstores or supermarkets. If you have made the mistake of not bringing a DMV removal device with you, your best bet is to call the closest private optometric practice or purchase online with expedited shipping.
Remember to also bring a small travel-size mirror which you can lay flat on a table, to facilitate scleral lens application and removal. As you know, application requires downward gaze, to prevent non-preserved saline from dripping out. That is why a flat-laying mirror is helpful, unlike an upright mirror.
Sleeping with Scleral Lenses?
Continuous wear of any contact lens around the clock without removal will significantly increase the risk of microbial keratitis, a severe sight-threatening corneal infection. This is why you should refrain from sleeping with scleral contact lenses beyond a short nap. It is even more important to not sleep with scleral lenses if you are wearing them on an eye that has had corneal transplantation. Inadequate oxygen supply to the corneal transplant with a closed eye can risk swelling the cornea and provoking transplant rejection. Please consult your own eye doctor for individual guidance on the risk of eye damage with continuous wear of scleral lenses. Although many scleral contact lens wearers do not achieve reasonable vision with eyeglasses, for those that do, overnight airplane flights may be an appropriate time to wear your glasses.
ReVision Optometry is a referral-based practice in San Diego providing contact lens services for patients with keratoconus. To schedule an appointment, request your appointment online, or call our office at 619.299.6064.