RPG lenses, whats ok and whats not?

[Leanne Ross *]

Hi

Let me introduce myself. I'm 25 years old and live in the wilds of Scotland. I was diagnosed with KC when I was 19 years old and have it worse in my right eye than my left. I've been managing with glasses and soft contacts but in the last year the progression in my right eye has really sped up and I've now got my first pair of RPG's.

I've had them for three days and my eyes have stopped watering enough that i'm beginning to see out of them so (get to the point!)

Should I be able to see the edge of the contact lens when its in my eye?

The left lens is "smeary" despite my cleaning it the optician says this is a normal part of the manufacturing process and should clear in a few days, is she having me on?

Ta for your replies

Leanne

[GarethB]

Hi Leanne

I can see the edge of my right lens under certain conditions as the cone is biased to the left side of my right eye so the lens sits off centre pointing to my nose. When the light is from a 45 degree angle from head on I can see the right hand edge of the lens. This is not that noticeable to me now, but I have had my lenses for a total of 18 months.

It might be that although the tears have cleared for you to satrt seeing out of your lenses, there is still a pool of tears round part of the lens so refelcting light making the edge visible.

You say you have only had the lenses 3 days, many opticians will see you again after 4 weeks when you are more used to the lenses to check the fit. Mention the edge of the lens then.

Smearing on the lens can be an artefact of the lens manufacture, it can also be a result of handling the lenses. As you used to use soft lenses you are used to handling them, but sometimes if there is a small amount of grease on my fingers and the outside surface of the lens is a bit dry my vision is blury due to part of a finger print. An extra washing f hands anda lens clean usually rectifies the problem.

Again if this is still a problem be honest with the optom as it makes their life easier to help us.

Hope this helps.

Gareth

[Andrew MacLean]

Leanne

You say "wilds of Scotland" and that sounds absolutely wonderful on a day like today. Perhaps you sometimes feel a little remote from ophthalmological services?

Where are you seen? Does your hospital dispense contact lenses?

I shall think about you as I look across the Clyde to the moors and mountains of Argyll.

Andrew

[Lynn White]

Leanne

Seeing the edge of the lens is quite normal at first as the lenses tend to move around a lot as you water. It should start to settle after a short while!

The smearing... well RGP's are polished and often they repel fluid when first being worn. This unfortunately encourages it to get greased up with mucus. As the lens is worn more and more a fine bio film establishes itself over the lens thus making it less water repellent.

Lynn

[BusyLizzy]

Thank you Lynn, for such an informative reply.

I wore RGPs for about four years and had similar problems (as well as being allergic to all of them eventually).

I now have a PMMA lens which almost constantly has a smudge in the middle. I don't know whether this is due to condensation, as it doesn't "breathe", but I have to remove it and rewet it/clean it with saline and reinsert it many times. It's very frustrating.

[Lynn White]

Hmmmm

Your lens may well benefit from a repolish - certainly you need someone to look at it on a slit lamp and see whats happening!!

Lynn