Some advice please

[Matthew Jones]

Hi All,

I was recently diagnosed with KC in January and have started to wear RGP lenses, but they seem to be causing me loads of discomfort and making my eye's go red, is this normal because i've just started wearing them within the last 2 months or should i go back to the eye hospital.

Also it's great to know that there's somewhere that people can get advice on KC, and speak to people with it

Cheers
Matt

[GarethB]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the forum.

It is common for many to find lenses uncomfortable at first and for the eyes to go red.

You say you have started with lenses in the past couple of months which would imply you have gone through the initial two hour wear and build up an hour each day. Is this the case?

After how long do your eyes start to go red and become sore?

How long have you had your lenses?

It is possible that new comers to lenses do not wash all the lens cleaner off before putting the lenses in their storage solution overnight which irritates the eye the next day.

I can become sensitised to my lenses if I have worn them for a long time and it is nearing that time in the week when I use protein remover for the lenses. Some people get a protein build up very quickly on their lenses so need to use protein remover more frequently.

It can take some longer to get used to lenses than others.

When I first started with lenses, I had to build the lens wear to 8 hours. The after the 8 hours was achieved I had to build the wear time by an extra hour each week. So go one week at 8 hours and then the next week at nine hours per day.

It is also possible that the lens fit is not quite right as lens fitting is as much an art form as it is a science.

There are some instances where people become sensitised to the lens solutions they use and need to find an alternative.

I know this may not seem too much help, but if you could give some more details and answer some of my questions, hopefully I can give more advice.

[Matthew Jones]

Hi gareth

I've had my lenses the start of june, and have built it up as advised, i'm now on to 10 hours a day,

It's about 3 hours to 4 hours then my eye's go really red and become uncomfortable to the extent sometime's that i have to remove my lenses,and people think i've been smacked in the eye because they're so red

You mention about protein remover, i haven't been told about using this, what is it???

Thank's for the help so far

[Andrew MacLean]

Matthew

Good to know you, and welcome to the forum.

Att that Gareth says is right, and his questions are of course apt. Bottom line remains, however, if you want tailored advice you need to go to your optometrist.

Protein remover is a special additional cleaning procedure for RGP lenses. I had to use proten removing tablets once a week, although many people manage to get away with a two weekly use.

You buy the little tablets and plastic vials from high stteet opticians, supermarkets etc. One tablet in each vial, fill with water to the mark and soak your lens in the solution for the prescribed amount of time.

Rmember to rinse well.

Meantime you might be wise to go back to your optometrist to ask them to check the fit of your lenses.

All the best

Andrew

[GarethB]

Furtehr to Andrews reply, most manufactures of the contact lens protein remover tablets say to disole the tablets in SALINE or LENS WETTING SOLUTION.

(Only used caps to make it clear, not to shout at anyone )

[Andrew MacLean]

I accept Gareth's rebuke! Always best to read the little leaflet that comes with the tablets!

Andrew

[Amarpal]

Looks like you have all the advice there, dont try and force yourself to wear the lenses for longer if they start to hurt- they will stop hurting in time.
Try to get some protein remover tablets- I admit that I am guilty for using protein removal only about once every month or so, but I can feel the difference after I have used them.
All the best with your lens wear.

[rosemary johnson]

If they are OK for 3-4 hours, it sounds like they may be basically Ok and just not be able to cope with longer wearing times.
Have you tried taking them out when the eye starts to get uncomfortable - or better still, before - and resting the eyes a bit, then cleaning, rewetting and putting htem back in later.
If this is a real pain for your work/life, you could try wearing one at a time and then switching, so you can always see out of one - this does take a bit of getting used to, and some people don't like it at all. And it does curtail your ability to judge distances, which may not be a good idea, depending what you're doing.

If you've only had the lenses since June, it may be that this is a bad time of year for lenses - hot weather, hay fever (nope, I never got it before I had lenses!), poor air quality, etc.
Please do keep drinnking lots of water to prevent dehydration in hot weather.
If you think hay fever might be a factor, you could do worse than go and chat to the pharmacist. If you're already taking antihistaines to stop sneezing, is it possible they are drying the eyes up as well as th enose?
You ay find th elenses magically get better when the heat wave and hay fever season are over.
Good luck.
Rosemary

[Matthew Jones]

Thanks for all the advice, got an appointment for the hospital this week, so will hopefully solve the problem, will let u know what it is

Matt