UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi All

I have a big 360ml bottle of saline used for rinsing cleaner from my RGPs, which I have had for 8 months! I see on the bottle it states use within 2 months. There is no way i'd be able to use all that saline within 2 months!! I've thrown it away now, but there was probably another 2 weeks worth in there.

Just wondered, do you guys keep your rinsing solutions beyond the use within 2 months date?

Are they actually unhygienic after that time?

Maybe I should buy smaller bottles of saline, but I love a good deal!

Thanks

Hi there Jake

The main reason for the "use within X time of opening" on solutions, medicines etc. is that once the air-tight seal is broken, the liquid is subject to compromise by airborne bacteria, moulds and viruses.

Usually there's a preservative ingredient to give a reasonable shelf-life once opened but eventually the propagation of the undesirable elements will invariably win out. Then, instead of reasonably pure solution or medicine you get essentially a toxic substance. Which... er... then goes in your eye !

Other problems include evaporation of the liquids which turns the contents of the bottle more viscose (gloopy).

A few days or maybe a week after the specified "use within" timeframe isn't going to do you much harm. But never a good idea to push the boundary.

If you've got a Keratoconus eye (or two!), it is already thinner and therefore more susceptible to damage or infection than a regular cornea. So please don't take unnecessary chances. If money is tight then while it is not easy, it might be worth starting the battle (and battle it is) to get Disability Living Allowance (shortly to be replaced with Personal Independence Payments) awarded. If you need extra funds to help you live with your Keratoconus, then it's a right, not a charitable donation to be given this benefit.

Best wishes

Chris

Has anyone ever got DLA (Disability Living allowance) for KC?

I wonder if you could use them as a reference case for other applicants.

A 500ml bottle generally lasts me just over a week, but I am very generous in rinsing cleaner and soaking solution off my lenses because my eyes are sensitive to them.

Most medical solutions have an expiry date, but the use in 2 months is from the time of opening.

The best deals I have found fro saline are from www.getlenses.co.uk and I usually get a three month supply.