Scleral lenses

[Vic]

For a long time now I've been trying to get used to RGP lenses. I have a graft in one eye and with glasses and mainly using the grafted eye's vision, I've been able to get by with usable vision. The RGP problems have unfortunately been from all sides - Moorfields struggled to get any kind of fit on my grafted eye apparently because of the size and position of the graft meant that most lenses slipped in my eye, and after several tries they ended up hand-making me a specially moulded fenestrated lens. Unfortunately also my eyes just really hate corneal lenses and after a lot of perseverance and struggling, the tolerance has never built beyond that initial 'I have bricks in my eyes'. And I've never been able to get the hang of getting them in and out despite a lot of practice.

This week at Moorfields they decided that corneal lenses probably weren't going to suit me after 18 months of not finding anything manageable, and the suggestion was made of trying scleral lenses. I was so grateful for the extra time they spent with me this week, after I wasn't even meant to have an appointment in the sclerals clinic but as I was there and the consultant asked them, they agreed to see me. They spent a lot of time trying to get a good fit (apparently I don't like to be conventional and also have oddly-shaped eyeballs ) but by the end of the session it felt like time that was very well spent. Although the size of the scleral lenses is a bit overwhelming, once they're in they instantly felt so very much more tolerable in my eyes than the corneal lenses ever did, and they managed to get me up to 6/6 vision, which I haven't had for 10 years now. So that was pretty amazing! I'd be interested to hear from other people here who wear / have worn sclerals, and how you found them. I think given that one of my difficulties with the corneal lenses was the getting them in and out, I'm a bit worried about how I'm going to get used to these because I don't think it's going to be straightforward to learn it, and my understanding is that you have to be fairly slick with it in order to avoid air bubbles. However - I'm really encouraged and excited that finally I might have found an option that's going to be workable and give me very good vision, and if the getting them in and out is the only big hurdle for me, then I can work at that till I manage it.

Last time I was there, they took some photos of my eyes to use in a lecture to explain some of the difficulties they'd had in fitting me with lenses, and I got them to e-mail me the photos because I think they're pretty cool (eyes close up are amazing things!) and it's nice to see things from the other side of the slit lamp and see what the optom's seeing!

My grafted eye

My grafted eye with the RGP with the lens I struggled to get used to, which they then realised was because it always slipped like this!

[url=http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e125/medic_vic/LeftnewfitonPKmorestablelargediamc3.jpg] The hand-moulded fenestrated lens they made to fit the PK eye
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[Lynn White]

Excellent pictures Vic!

Good to see you have finally got sorted and I must say, the pic of your original lens also shows you were watering quite a lot! (Not surprising if it felt like a brick!)

Good fun seeing your own eyes!

[rosemary johnson]

Vic,
Well done on finding your way to the sclerals route!
I've been wearing the things since I was 14, went straight into them then, and I'm now, ahem! 24-yet-again.
Agree the size of them is rather daunting at first, but you get used to them.
They should be good to fit over a graft, because they go right over the whole centre of the eye, including the "seam" where the graft joined on, with no corneal-lens-like edges to catch.
Like you seem to be, I've always been able to tell if a scleral lens was a go-er almost straight away.
hope you get on well with them - one does get the hang of putting them in, I promise! - and I'm the person whose mum had to be taught to put them in and take them out, cos I just couldn't do it when I first got them.
I had my firt graft 16 days ago - disaster story so far, but that's another thread - and won't be having anything else but a scleral over it if/when the time comes.
Rosemary

[Andrew MacLean]

Vic

I really liked my scleral; in fact it was my all-time favourite lens. I am going to take my old one with me when I go for my post-graft lens fitting in a couple of weeks time, in the hope that they take the hint and let me have another one. (Only partly joking here, I do know that they will do their best to fit me with the most suitable and appropriate lens for my current situation, bur I dislike change, and I know my scleral).

All the best

Andrew

ps I like your photos.

Andrew