Charlotte Contact Lens Institute

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Charlotte Contact Lens Institute

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

03/12/2026

Have you heard of the small aperture IOL? 🧐👁️

The IC-8 lens uses a tiny 1.36 mm central opening to filter out scattered peripheral light—similar to the pinhole test we use in the exam room to check your best visual potential. By blocking unfocused light rays, it can reduce distortions and help manage uncorrected astigmatism.

But real life isn’t exam-room lighting. When the natural pupil dilates in dim environments, light can sneak in around the aperture, sometimes bringing back glare, shadowing, or double vision.

In this case, when further surgical refinement wasn’t an option, a specialty contact lens helped improve vision from 20/200 to 20/25. A powerful reminder that even when surgery reaches its limit, there are still tools to restore quality vision. ✨

03/07/2026

A routine exam with an unexpected finding 💭❓

This patient has been a long-time spherical soft lens wearer and prefers monovision after cataract surgery. At this year’s visit, we found new, unexpected astigmatism in her prescription — and it correlated with worsening vision.

Her main complaint? Increasing glare and a constant “film” over her vision. Since her dominant (distance eye) was the most symptomatic, the change was especially noticeable and frustrating.

When we looked closer, the issue wasn’t the contact lens at all. She had posterior capsule opacification (PCO) bisecting her visual axis — creating distortion that mimicked new astigmatism.

A good reminder that when vision changes, it’s important to ask why before simply changing the prescription.

03/03/2026

Join a community dedicated to advancing scleral lens care through real-world learning, meaningful connections, and expert guidance.

Dr. Ariel Cerenzie returns as one of the program chairs for , and we couldn’t be more excited about the lineup!
Register by March 1 to secure the lowest pricing of the year. We can’t wait to see you in San Diego!

Registration link is in our bio 🙌

02/26/2026

Looking for a specialty eye care team you can trust and feel comfortable with? Read the reviews patients have been sharing about their experience at our practice! 💜

We’re so thankful for the kind words and support from our amazing community. If you know someone who needs specialty eye care, we’d be honored for you to send them our way. 👀✨

02/23/2026

Happy 3 year anniversary, CCLI!

"Three years ago, I started Charlotte Contact Lens Institute as a passion project.

I wanted to create a space where I could focus exclusively on specialty contact lenses, fully immerse myself in the best technology available, and truly nerd out on what I love most. 🤓

What began as a small, focused vision has grown into something far beyond what I imagined. Watching this practice evolve through the patients we take care, the incredible team we have built, the technology we use, and the relationships we have formed has been so rewarding.

The best part is that it still does not feel like going to work when you genuinely love what you do.

I am so grateful for every patient who has trusted us, every referring doctor who has supported us, and every team member who has joined our little contact lens nerd family.

Year three, and we are just getting started!"

- Dr. Cerenzie

$Success story after refractive lens exchange!Many patients with high prescriptions look for options that offer freedom f...$

02/18/2026

Success story after refractive lens exchange!

Many patients with high prescriptions look for options that offer freedom from glasses and contacts. And for this patient, ending up back in corrective lenses was never the goal. But sometimes, even after advanced surgery, vision still needs a little extra support.

Here’s a great example of what’s possible when the right technology meets the right fit. This 53-year-old patient achieved 20/20 distance and near vision in a custom multifocal scleral lens. Special design features helped the lens stay centered and stable, leading to clear, comfortable vision all day.

A reminder that personalized care can make all the difference. 🧐

02/12/2026

Corneal scars can impair vision not only through opacity, but also by inducing irregular astigmatism. Even peripheral scars can induce significant irregular astigmatism and higher-order aberrations that limit best-corrected vision.

How scleral lenses help:
We frequently evaluate patients referred for possible penetrating keratoplasty (PK) to better understand their true visual potential. A same-day scleral lens trial often allows patients to experience their best-corrected vision—sometimes for the first time—before committing to surgical intervention. 👁️

Our approach:
• Trial fitting performed during the initial 2-hour consultation
• Patients walk around the office to experience real-world vision
• Supports shared, informed decision-making: surgical vs. non-surgical

Fitting considerations:
In many cases, fitting is relatively straightforward. However, depending on the degree of irregularity, HOA-corrected optics may be necessary to fully optimize visual quality.

Takeaway:
Before recommending surgery, giving patients the opportunity to see what’s possible can meaningfully influence outcomes, expectations, and long-term satisfaction. ✨

02/10/2026

Behind every great doctor is an even greater support team 👀✨

Meet the dream team keeping things running at CCLI and RCLI: Pia, Ian, and Hope 💪

From answering patient calls to managing emails and texts, coordinating schedules, tracking lenses, and handling all the behind-the-scenes details, they keep everything running smoothly day in and day out. Most importantly, they make sure every patient feels heard, supported, and truly taken care of — the heartbeat of our practice, assisting our doctors every step of the way.
We couldn’t do what we do without them 🩵

02/06/2026

Case Highlight: Managing Exposure Keratopathy with Scleral Lenses
38-year-old medical dosimetrist with a complex neuro-ophthalmic history, including facial nerve dysfunction, paralytic lagophthalmos, and multiple prior eyelid reconstructive procedures, presented with persistent discomfort, requiring hourly ointment use, compromising visual function.
Clinical findings
▫️ Deep stromal corneal scarring with intact epithelium
▫️ Significant irregular astigmatism
▫️ Incomplete lid closure secondary to facial paralysis
Intervention
We refit her into an 18.0 mm scleral lens to maximize coverage of the exposed ocular surface and stabilize the tear reservoir.
Outcome
✔️ All-day comfort
✔️ Clear, stable vision
✔️ Elimination of exposure-related pain
✔️ Marked reduction in reliance on ointments
Why this matters
Patients with lid abnormalities, whether from palsies, resections, entropion, or ectropion, often rely on frequent ointment use that protects the cornea but severely limits vision. Well-designed scleral lenses can serve as both a therapeutic and optical solution in these cases.
Fitting pearl
These patients often require:
• Larger diameters
• Freeform designs guided by scleral profilometry for optimal alignment due to increasing scleral irregularity away from the limbus

Sometimes the answer isn’t more drops or more surgery, it’s better coverage, better optics, and better design.

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 💯

Address

5950 Fairview Road Suite 708
Charlotte, NC
28210

Telephone

+17048005230

Website

https://www.charlottecontactlens.com/

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