In this month’s 4-part series, we’re spotlighting low-cost, underused tools that can elevate your contact lens practice. Let’s start with Lissamine green strips.
Before you place that diagnostic lens, swipe a Lissamine green strip across the inferior conjunctiva and wait. That simple step can reveal what your patient can’t tell you, such as subclinical inflammation or lid margin disease that could sabotage lens comfort before it even begins.
Lissamine green is gentler than fluorescein, more specific for devitalized cells, and especially revealing for patients who “pass” standard dry eye questionnaires but later complain of irritation or lens intolerance. It’s the best $0.50 predictor of whether a patient will thrive in contact lenses, especially multifocals or scleral designs, where surface interaction is key.
This tactic is also a great visual aid for patient education. If you show them the staining pattern, you communicate urgency and set the stage for compliance with your dry eye protocols. Want better retention and fewer early dropouts? Start with the green.
Next week, we’ll spotlight a tool that makes scleral lens removal easier and earns you major patient loyalty. You probably already own it, but are you using the right version?
