Charlotte Contact Lens Institute

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Charlotte Contact Lens Institute

Charlotte Contact Lens Institute is an independent practice providing custom & personalized care.

02/02/2026

Vision rehab with scleral lenses can be life changing—especially in cases like EBMD. 👁️✨

This patient came in frustrated with poor quality vision despite wearing glasses: ghosting, double vision, and smudged letters that worsened after computer or phone use and lingered all day.

Reading the TV guide from across the room? Nearly impossible.
With scleral lens trials, his vision sharpened and—most importantly—the ghosting resolved. Those are the moments that make us pause and say… wow. This is why we do what we do.

If you’ve been told your vision is “technically good” but still feels off, scleral lenses may be worth exploring. 💛

01/21/2026

Where have our doctors been lately? 👀✈️

Dr. Cipperly, Dr. Moss, and Dr. Cerenzie were recently in Las Vegas at the Global Specialty Lens Symposium, soaking up great education, reconnecting with colleagues, and getting a little nerdy!

They also had the chance to take the podium, lecturing on everything from myopia management to advanced specialty lens designs like ScanFitPro, and sharing real-world applications of cutting-edge technology, such as the Pentacam AXL Wave ( ).

We love learning, we love teaching, and we especially love bringing it all back to the clinic to make patient care even better.

01/15/2026

Honored to be recognized as a 2025 Top 10% Trailblazer by .us ✨️

This was presented by Ovitz CEO Felix Kim to Dr. Ariel Cerenzie and Dr. Heather Cipperly of the Charlotte Contact Lens Institute at GSLS on January 9, 2026.

We are proud to be at the forefront of innovation in specialty contact lenses, advancing personalized care and delivering meaningful vision outcomes for our patients 💯

01/13/2026

👁️ What you’re seeing here is called a sc******ng reflex.
During retinoscopy, a smooth, healthy cornea reflects light evenly. In keratoconus, the cornea becomes irregular — so the light reflex splits, moves unevenly, or appears to “scissor.”

This finding tells us:
• The cornea isn’t optically smooth
• Standard glasses may not fully correct vision

This video shows the classic sc******ng light reflex caused by asymmetric corneal curvature and irregular astigmatism. Retinoscopy can detect keratoconus even in early stages and has been shown to be a sensitive tool for this purpose. In one study comparing retinoscopy to tomography with the Pentacam, retinoscopy had a ~98% sensitivity for detecting keratoconus, including early disease, even when slit-lamp findings were subtle or absent (Al-Mahrouqi et al., Cornea, 2019).

Al-Mahrouqi H, Oraba SB, Al-Habsi S, et al. Retinoscopy as a screening tool for keratoconus. Cornea. 2019.

01/09/2026

We most often visualize this with scleral profilometry and occasionally with anterior segment OCT. In these OCT cross-sections, you can see how pronounced the indentations are after removing a very tight scleral lens that the patient had worn for around 10 years.

When the scleral shape is modified like this, in-office fitting becomes more challenging. A practical trick I’ve found helpful is to go smaller or larger in diameter than the original lens to avoid the affected tissue.

The OCT here shows the new lens design at first dispense. I will wait to make any changes on this lens until the patient wears the lens for a minimum of 2–3 weeks. Because of the extent of the scleral tissue’s indentation, champagne bubbles were forming during downgaze. 🫧

Though not ideal, I asked him to power through this and recommended instilling 3–4 drops of Optase Intense into the bowl of the lens prior to insertion. After 3 weeks of wear, I tightened the edges slightly, and he was good to go!

Sometimes, patience and a little extra counseling on expectations can go a long way! ✨

12/26/2025

Wishing you bright days and joyful moments this Christmas from all of us at the Charlotte Contact Lens Institute 🎄✨

12/19/2025

Scleral lenses can be a game changer for dry eye! 💧✨

These lenses protect the cornea by securing a fluid layer of preservative-free saline underneath—keeping the eye comfortably bathed in moisture all day long. This gives the ocular surface a chance to heal, improves visual stability, and provides real relief from stubborn dry eye symptoms.

Swipe to see this patient’s before and after… the results speak for themselves!

💡Expert tip: Add a few drops of a highly viscous preservative-free artificial tear into the bowl before inserting the lens for extra comfort and fluid retention. Serum tears can also be added for additional therapeutic benefit.

Let us know your experience in the comments below! 👇

12/12/2025

Typically, the main reason we consider a corneal transplant (PK) for ectatic or scarred corneas is when axial scarring reduces vision. But here’s the catch: you cannot accurately judge the visual impact of a scar without a scleral or GP lens trial.

Why?
Because what looks like visually significant scarring may actually be optical distortion from an irregular ocular surface, not the opacity itself. A scleral lens neutralizes that distortion and reveals the eye’s true visual potential.
Corneas with scars also tend to show elevated higher-order aberrations (HOAs), creating glare, halos, photophobia, and reduced optical quality. Research shows sclerals can significantly improve visual acuity and optical symptoms in these cases.¹

Patient Spotlight 🔎

This 45-year-old was referred after recovering from a fungal ulcer, likely caused by sleeping in a contact lens that had pollen trapped underneath.

At his first visit:
• BCVA in glasses: 20/100
• With a scleral lens: 20/30
• Corneal densitometry 3 months post-healing (before image): noticeably elevated

At his annual visit today (1 year later):
• 50% improvement in corneal densitometry (after image)
• BCVA in scleral: 20/20 with an over-refraction
• Comfortable, consistent visual quality with his scleral lens ✨
No transplant. No aggressive intervention.
Just healing, time, and the right optics.

¹ 𝖦𝖺𝗋𝖼í𝖺-𝖢𝖺𝗆𝗉𝗈𝗌, 𝖩. 𝖾𝗍 𝖺𝗅. (2024). 𝖨𝗆𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝖵𝗂𝗌𝗎𝖺𝗅 𝖰𝗎𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝖤𝗒𝖾𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖢𝗈𝗋𝗇𝖾𝖺𝗅 𝖮𝗉𝖺𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖨𝗋𝗋𝖾𝗀𝗎𝗅𝖺𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝖴𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖬𝗂𝗇𝗂-𝖲𝖼𝗅𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅 𝖫𝖾𝗇𝗌𝖾𝗌, 𝖱𝖾𝗏 𝖬𝖾𝗑 𝖮𝖿𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗆𝗈𝗅.

12/10/2025

These custom lenses never stop blowing my mind 🤯✨

Designed using Pentacam AXL Wave data, this freeform lens was created for a patient with clinically significant dry eye after LASIK.

One of the biggest challenges? A large pinguecula—almost 400µm high on the nasal side. These areas can be especially sensitive for dry eye patients, so the lens has to be designed with incredible precision to stay comfortable.

And yes… it fit beautifully on the very first order.

Comment if you know someone who needs this! 👇

12/05/2025

to Academy when a very pregnant Dr. Cerenzie teamed up with the myopia management research G.O.A.T., Dr. Mark Bullimore! Their talk, “Myopia Management: Today’s Research, Tomorrow’s Practice,” was all about turning science into better care for our young myopes 👏

12/03/2025

Sleeping in Lenses? Think Twice.

We know the struggle, sometimes you’re so tired, skipping lens removal feels tempting.

But here’s the deal: sleeping in lenses (unless they’re specifically approved for overnight wear) can raise your risk of infection and inflammation.

✨ Pro tip: Take them out before you pass out!

Your eyes will thank you in the morning.

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at CCLI & RCLI! 🧡
We’re so grateful for our amazing patients and our incredible team.
Thank you for trusting us with your vision and for allowing us to be part of your eyecare journey.
Wishing everyone a warm and joyful holiday! 🍁✨

Address

5950 Fairview Road Suite 708
Charlotte, NC
28210

Telephone

+17048005230

Website

https://www.charlottecontactlens.com/

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