Looking for advice.

[Sandi M]

Hi,

I am new to this forum but not to KC. I was dx with KC about 19 years ago (I am 39 now).

I have been wearing hybrid lenses for about 3 years now (having a new pair approx every 6 months), after not being able to cope with RGP due to allergy scarring on the inside of my lids. I can manage to wear them about 3 to 4 days out of 7, for about 8 hours.

I wanted to ask if the pain I get, almost daily, in my right eye could be connected with my KC. The pain feels like a combination of a severe headache in my eye ball and the feeling as though it has been bruised, as though I have been punched in the eye (not that I have ever experienced this first hand, but how I would imagine it would feel).

I also get a sensation of pressure from the back as though it is being pushed forward.

I have spoken to my dr about this and she has suggested I speak to my contact lens specialist, but my next appointment is in November. I have put up with it for about a year now.

Many thanks.

[Andrew MacLean]

Hi Sandi and welcome to the forum.

Go to your ophthalmologist and go today. If you can;'t get a hospital appointment, turn up at the eye casualty department.

It may not be anything serious, but pain is there for a reason, and you should not be tholing it.

Andrew

[Sandi M]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your quick reply.

I will give my ophthalmologist a ring and try and get to see her this week.

I have had a CT and a MRI scan of my brain in the last month, regarding something unconnected with this (although I did mention the pain in my eye to the drs) and the scans have not shown anything awful (eg a tumor, or a bleed) so I have no worry on that level.

The other problem I have with this eye is that in the morning it seems to take a lot longer to open than the left (a good 2 to 3 minutes). This has been going on for about 2 months.

Thanks again.

Sandi

[Andrew MacLean]

The problem with KC and pain in the eyes is that the pain can be due to all sorts of things, from increased intra ocular pressure (IOP) to contact lens intolerance, with all sorts and varieties of other causes in between.

the general rule of thumb that I try to apply is: if I don't know what is causing the pain, I ask someone who might!

If it is contact lens related the ophthalmologist will refer you back to the optometrist. if it is not then the Ophthalmologist will be able to offer a treatment.

All the best. Let us know how you get on.

Andrew

[Sandi M]

I will let you know how things go. Just waiting for the hospital to ring back.

Many thanks again.

Sandi

[GarethB]

Sandi,

Sounds a bit like dry eyes, since I started to drink more watre things are lot better, eyes not so gunged in the morning.

Also lubricating eye drops help with the pain/bruised eye lid sensation. This is because my lens is nearly in the postition it should be so not irritating the ye lid. Has also increased my wear time from 2 to 12 hours sometimes longer and until recently this had been for a full four weeks with no days rest, something I had never done before. Now back to having a lens day off but that is my choice as I am not working every weekend at the moment.

[Sandi M]

Hi Gareth,

Thanks for the reply. I am waiting to find out what lubrication I should use on my SoftPerm lenses.

This site has made me feel so much better about my KC. I had started to think that maybe I was not destined to wear lenses, but reading about others similar problems has made me more determined to persevere and 'try harder' with them. Sometimes it is so easy to think I can't be bothered with the hassle/pain/uncomfortableness of wearing my lenses but I now feel like a new person!

Sandi

[Sallyuk]

Hi Sandi ,

I think I know exactly what you are talking about with this pain/bruising. I get a similar thing if I over-strain my eyes or leave my lenses in too long - it feels like something is trying to push my eyeball out ! The aching, bruised feeling is tired muscles and will go if rested. When my eyeball feels hard to me I have often thought it would register when they test the pressure but it doesn't ! However, the advice to visit your optometist is sound - 'just in case' . Hope it is ok - let us know .

Sally

[Sandi M]

Hi Sally,

I am so relieved to hear someone experiencing what I do (I know that sounds very selfish, but I don't mean it that way )
It really does feel as though my eyeball is pushed forward at times......or as though my eye has fallen out and the eye put back is about 2 sizes to big! *lol*

Will let you know how things go.

Sandi

[GarethB]

Sandi,

The eye lubricant I use is Systane by Alcon and you remove the lens to use the drops. These coat the eye and the ey lid and have no effect on the lens. You wet the lens as normal when putting them back in.

Sorry for the confusion, lens conditioners/wetting solutions lubricate the lens.

Eye lubricant drops are for the eyes and do nothing for the lens. Unless you forget to remove the lens when you use them, then the lens can go a bit foggy, but a quick lenes clean up and the correct sequence of drops and then putting the lens in fixes the problem.

Blink by Amo is another less viscous wetting solution for the eye suitable for use while wearing lenses both soft and rigid.