UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi Y'all

I am 25 and six months ago I had intac surgery on my right eye. After I had it done I regretted it I had bad haloing and it was painful but six months down the line I don't regret it at all I get little haloing at all even in the dark when on my laptop and my vision is 20/20 with glasses. Scans have shown some progression after the intac was implanted. So in 4 days I am getting cross linking done in my right eye and I am hoping that it isn't as painful as the intacs post-op.

Looking on the forums it appears I am one of the lucky few to be getting both of these procedures on the NHS with an offer for the same in the left eye if I choose to have it done.

Hi Mark and welcome to the forum. And thanks for the positive post. It's good to hear that Intacs have worked well for you after your initial doubts. All the best for the crosslinking and do let us know how you get on. Re pain, posts on this forum suggest that most people (though not all) do find it pretty painful for a day or two after the procedure. But the pain goes as the cornea heals - some good painkillers will hopefully help.
Anne

Hi

I had crosslinking in my right eye in June and found it a remarkably pain-free procedure. However, in July I had my left eye done and was in a bit of pain for a couple of days. Each eye was crosslinked by a different surgeon whose methodology varied slightly, for example, the surgeon who did my left eye (using a Daya disruptor) made a number of punctures in the epithilium, whereas the other surgeon who did my right eye made a lot of punctures in the epithiulium using the same instrument. I really think that's why one was pain-free and the other was really quite painful (I'm not suggesting either way was wrong, just different). However, I should say that I wasn't in agony (it was bareable and I survived to tell the tale!), although my eye also watered a great deal and everytime I blinked, I could feel that the surface of my eye felt rough – so it was a bit uncomfortable. Everything healed very quickly (within 2/3 days), however, although my vision was pretty good, that it's taken about 3 months to feel like it's back on par pre-op. I'm also one of the lucky ones whose vision has actually improved since the crosslinking, despite the sole purpose of the procedure to halt progression of the condition.

Everyone is different and hopefully it'll be pain-free for you.

Best wishes.

Caroline