UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Its a while until my next check up so im wondering if anyone could set me straight on something.

i was told pre-op that having the graft would also mean that in the future i would be more easily fitted with contact lenses. And i think i made the mistake to think eventually that i would just be able to use normal everyday contacts that the average jo uses.

Then i heard that this wont be the case as i will have to wear a gas perm lens

and now ive just been reading that you will eventually wear a sclerals lens which scares the hell out of me lol i remember my eye specialist trying to put one in my eye brfore the op, it was a strange lens.

Anyway im a very confusing person so hope you can help to put me straight on what i can have put in my eye- its been a year after my op- glasses are fine - i just look like an idiot in them lol

thanks

Hallo Steve!
Apologies if I'm part of the confusion about this - as I've actually got post-graft sclerals. As I've been wearing sclerals ever since i was 14 and never had any other form of contact lens, this is fine by me.
There's a thread in "active topics" (I think it still is!) with a name like "Early lenses...." in which I try to explain this more.
The chances are, after a graft, one will need to wear either glasses or contact lenses. I was told about 10% are lucky enough to have vision they don't think it worth correcting with either.
It takes a long while for a grafted eye to "settle down" - maybe a year to 18 months - and until then, it is still changing shape as the graft heals and settles.
So if you get glasses or "ordinary" contact lenses, you could find you need new ones annoyingly - and budget=stretchingly - often as your eye changes shape and the power of the contact lens/glasses you need changes.
After a year, this will ahve slowed down - or should have done.
if you can see OK in glasses, there's no visual need to go to contacts - though you may prefer them for personal, occupational tc reasons.
What type of contacts you need, or can get away with, will depend a lot of the shape of teh new eye with the graft in it. Many people do wear "ordinary" corneal lenses (about the size of the iris).
The advantage of scleral lenses is that - apart from the advantage of familiarity for me as I'm well used to them - they fit well over the grafted area and clear of it, with no contact ont he grafted piece, only a reservoir of tears etween graft and lens.
This means there is no rubing on the graft itself, aso the lens is less likely to aggravate it, and there is scope for the eye to change shape behind the lens, because only the tear pool changes shape, and the lens still fits well clear over the whole area.
This means that, given a grafted eye healed up well, and surgeon, lens fitter and wearer being happy with the idea, a scleral lens can be fitted earlier without needng a new one every few weeks.
Well, that's the idea!
I was fitted for one 3 months post graft, and by the time I got it, my eye had changed shape already so I had to go out and get a pair of cheapo supermarkt reading glasses. I think the eye has changed again, as I'm thinking I'll be going for a more owerful piar of reading glasses quite soon!
Obviously this wouldn't work for everyone - some people don't get on with sclerals, or have much of a 50 pink fits reaction to seeing the things (I remember it well when I first did!!!) - and not all consultants, optoms, or hospital accounts departments (!!) are too keen on them.
After a year post-graft, our eye ught to be changing much less fast so the advantages of sclerals for early fitting are probably no more. Of course, I haven't seen your eyes.
Depending onthe shape post-graft now, you might fit an ordinary corneal lens, a bog-standard soft lens such as one can buy in Asda's, or one of the special hard/soft combination ones or.....
... or you may be better to stick to glasses.
Or it's just possible it may have settled down into a shape that might do best with scleral if you can stomach the idea.
Without seeing your eyes, and not being an optometrist, I can't tell.
But there's no universal rule of sclerals post graft.
Inf act, AIUI, one might be able to fit ordinary corneal lenses post-graft almost as early as sclerals, so long as the graft has healed over well, etc. But the chances are you'll need new ones to keep the fit right as the eye changes shapes too often to be practical.
Hope this makes sense.
Rosemary

I'd not worry about the scleral lens; if it comes to that they are comfortable and once you get a handle on putting them in and taking them out they are a breeze!

In the meantime, don't give up on other new options: the kerasoft 3 gets good reviews from users on this site. Speak to your optometrist about all the options available to you.

Andrew

Rosemary thanks for taking time to write that-

Its helped me to understand the process more- it has almost been a year since my op and thankfully every time i have had my eye seen to they are very very happy with the healing. and with my glasses i can see lots.

One thing i worry about with the scleral lens is that people may be able to notice it in my eye, one of the things i was excited about after having the op is that my eye would go back to a more normal shape and perm lenses would be a thing of the past. i was always a bit cautious going close to ppl as i had a couple of people point out loudly the fact my eye was a weird shape lol

if i can aim for the future that i may be able to use normal everyday use disposable lenses then that would be awesome