How to Insert and Remove Scleral Lenses (Beginner’s Guide)
Handling scleral lenses is a skill, not a talent — and almost everyone feels all thumbs for the first few days. With a little practice, insertion and removal become a 30-second routine. Here’s the beginner-friendly version of what your doctor will teach you in person.
One thing worth saying up front: in our experience, when someone struggles with scleral lenses early on, it is far more often the handling than the lens. That is good news, because handling is a technique problem and technique is teachable. If it is going badly, the answer is usually a different method rather than a different lens.
What you’ll need
- Your scleral lenses
- Preservative-free saline made for filling scleral lenses
- An insertion tool — a small stand (O-ring) or a hollow plunger
- A small solid plunger for removal
- A clean mirror laid flat on the counter, and freshly washed, lint-free hands
Wash your hands with a non-moisturising soap — moisturisers leave a film that transfers straight onto the lens — and dry them completely on a lint-free towel. Damp fingers slip, and a wet fingertip will not hold a lid open.
Work over a clean towel on a flat surface with good light, and cover the drain if there is one nearby.
Inserting your scleral lens
- Place the lens bowl-side up on your insertion stand or balanced on your fingers or plunger.
- Fill the bowl to the brim with preservative-free saline so it forms a slight dome. A full bowl is what prevents bubbles.
- Lean forward so your face is parallel to the floor and you’re looking straight down into the mirror.
- Hold your top and bottom eyelids open with your free hand so your lashes are out of the way.
- Bring the lens straight up to your eye and press it gently onto the surface. Keep looking down until it seats.
- Look in the mirror to confirm there’s no large air bubble. A clear, even reservoir means you’re set.
The step people get wrong is the third one. Tilting your head while your body stays upright is not the same as getting your face parallel to the floor, and saline runs out of the lens the moment it is not level.
Removing your scleral lens
Wash your hands again. Lightly moisten the small solid removal plunger and press it onto the lower third of the lens — not the centre — then gently rock and pull it off. Pressing too high creates suction that is hard to release.
Never yank. If the lens resists, blink a few times, add saline, wait a moment and try again lower down. For more on choosing and using a plunger, see our guide to the scleral lens plunger.
Removing without a plunger
Worth learning as a backup, because plungers get lost and get left at home.
- Look down, and place a fingertip at the outer edge of your upper eyelid and another just below your lower lid margin.
- Press gently inward against the bone and squeeze the lids slightly together, so the lid edges catch the rim of the lens.
- As the seal breaks, the lens tips forward — catch it in your free hand or let it land on the towel.
The whole move is lid pressure at the rim, not pinching the lens itself, and not pressing on the eye. Ask us to demonstrate before you try it alone; it is straightforward once you have seen it and awkward if you are guessing.
Beating the dreaded bubble
A bubble under the lens usually means it wasn’t filled enough or went on at an angle. If you see one, take the lens off, refill it completely, and try again with your face fully parallel to the floor.
A small bubble sitting at the edge will often migrate out on its own within a few blinks. A large one in the centre sits between the lens and your cornea, blurs vision and can dry a patch of the surface — that one comes out and goes back on. More detail in our guide to air bubbles in scleral lenses.
If your hands shake or your eyelids fight you
Two problems come up constantly, and neither is a reason to give up on the lenses.
Unsteady hands. Brace both elbows on the counter rather than holding your arms in mid-air, and use an insertion stand so the filled lens is resting on something solid instead of balanced on a moving fingertip. Tremor is much easier to work around than most people expect once the lens is not being held aloft.
A strong blink reflex. The instinct is to pull harder at the lid, which makes it worse. Hold the lid at the base of the lashes and press back against the bone of the orbit rather than dragging the soft tissue, and practise bringing an empty plunger toward your eye until the flinch settles. Most people’s reflex calms down within a few days of deliberate practice.
If a method genuinely is not working for you, say so at your next visit. There are several ways to do this and part of our job is finding the one that suits your hands and your eyelids.
Which way round is it?
A scleral lens has a deep bowl and a distinct rim, so inside-out is less of a trap than with soft lenses — but it happens, particularly in poor light. If a lens feels wrong on the eye or will not seat, check it before persevering: see how to tell if a scleral lens is inside out.
Midday fogging or discomfort
If vision gets hazy after several hours, the reservoir may have collected debris. Removing, rinsing, refilling, and reinserting usually clears it.
If it returns within an hour or two however clean the lens is, that is mid-day fogging rather than a dirty lens, and it is a fit conversation — see scleral lens fogging. For the full care routine, see scleral lens care: solutions and cleaning, and for what early wear feels like, are scleral lenses comfortable?
When to call us
Some awareness is normal at first, but sharp pain, significant redness, light sensitivity, or sudden blur are not — remove the lens and contact us.
We’re always happy to schedule a quick handling lesson if you’re struggling. It is a normal part of getting started, not a sign anything has gone wrong, and it is a much better use of a few minutes than a fortnight of frustration at the bathroom mirror.
Just started with scleral lenses and need a hand?
Dr. Shira Kresch, OD, MS, FAAO offers complimentary specialty consultations at Michigan Contact Lens in Southfield, serving patients across Metro Detroit. We fit scleral lenses for keratoconus, severe dry eye, corneal ectasia and eyes after corneal transplant — and we teach every patient to handle them confidently before they leave with them.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long does it take to learn to insert and remove scleral lenses?
Most people are competent within one to two weeks of daily practice, and the first two or three days are usually the hardest. Nobody is expected to leave their fitting appointment already good at it — we train you in the chair and you can come back for another handling lesson whenever you want one.
- How do I remove a scleral lens without a plunger?
It is done with your eyelids rather than your fingers. Look down, place a fingertip at the outer edge of your upper lid and another just below the lower lid margin, then press gently inward and squeeze the lids slightly together so the lid edges catch the rim of the lens and break the seal. The lens tips forward into your hand. It takes practice, and it is worth learning as a backup for the day you lose the plunger — but ask us to show you first rather than learning it on your own eye.
- Why do I keep getting a bubble under the lens?
Almost always one of two things: the bowl was not filled completely, or the lens went on at an angle. Fill the saline until it domes above the rim, and get your face fully parallel to the floor so you are looking straight down — sitting upright and tilting only your head is the most common cause. A small bubble at the edge often works itself out; a large one in the middle means take the lens off, refill it and start again.
- Can I put my lenses in with makeup on?
Put lenses in first, then makeup, and take the lenses out before you remove the makeup. Powders, fibres and oils transfer onto a lens surface very easily, and anything that ends up in the reservoir spends the whole day against your cornea. Cream and powder products around the lash line are the usual culprits.
- What if my hands shake, or my eyelids clamp shut?
Both are common and both are workable. For unsteady hands, brace your elbows on a table rather than holding them in mid-air, and use a stand so the lens is not balanced on a moving finger. For a strong blink reflex, the trick is holding the lid at the lash base against the bone rather than pulling at the soft tissue, and practising the approach without a lens until your eye stops flinching. If a method is not working for you, tell us — there is usually another one.
- What if the lens feels stuck?
Do not pull hard. Blink several times, put in some preservative-free saline, wait a minute and try the plunger again lower on the lens. A lens that has settled tightly will usually release once the seal is broken at the edge rather than the centre. If it will not come out, call us — see what to do when a scleral lens is stuck.
- Should I insert lenses over the sink?
No — work over a clean towel on a flat surface, with the drain covered if you are near one. Dropped lenses are common while you are learning. A lens that lands on a towel gets rinsed with saline and carries on; a lens that goes down the drain is a remake, and a lens rinsed under the tap is a genuine infection risk.
Related reading
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A soft lens drapes over the cornea and reproduces its shape. On an irregular cornea that is the whole problem — and no amount of refitting changes it.
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Looking for a scleral lens specialist near Detroit? What to look for, the conditions we treat, and how to book a free consultation in Southfield, MI.
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Ready to see clearly again?
Michigan Contact Lens fits scleral and specialty lenses for keratoconus, irregular corneas, corneal transplants, and severe dry eye.