Difficulty with hard lens

[see595]

Hi! I am new to the site and would appreciate if you could give me some help.

I have keratonus and have been attending the hospital to get the hard lens' but the problem is that I am finding it hard to put them in myself. I find them quite uncomfortable when the doctor puts them in too. I am useless at putting them in - I get as far as them catching my eyelashes. I have my next appointment this week and my doctor told me at my last appointment that if I couldn't do it they woudl give up. I am now panicking! I don't want them to give up because I know this is my best option but just struggle with it. Can any of you offer me some advise please?

Thanks

[Anne Klepacz]

Hi and welcome to the forum - I'm so sorry I didn't spot this post in time (you're better putting queries on the 'general discussion forum' where more people will see them).
What happened at your appointment? It seems very harsh to give up on you rather than spending time helping you with the technique of putting in lenses. I'm sure you're not alone in finding this difficult at first. I do hope you had a more positive experience this week - do let us know how you got on.
Best wishes
Anne

[melissa]

hi see 595,
sorry about your trouble with hard lenses... there is always a breaking in period and they do feel like glass in your eye when you start wearing them.... try to stay calm and keep going. small periods (baby steps).
my 'tricks' are:
wet the lens.... put a drop of solution in the lens. balance it on a dry finger (must be dry).... use you other hand to open both eyelids, looking down at your lap, bring the finger and lens up to your eye, and slowly bring it up until it touches, then blink and pull your finger away.... you have to learn to control the 'blink-reflex' and this is a hard thing to do, but it is just mind-over matter and practice..... stay calm and persevere...

[Lynn White]

See595

Do let us know how you went on. You do need to know there are other lens options that are more comfortable such as soft lenses or sclerals, or maybe even larger rigid lenses. If your eye department does not do these, you can be referred to a centre that does do them.

Lynn

[Ladyburd]

Hi

Welcome to the forum. I too was in the same situation. i have found the forum to be so helpful. Please take your time to read thro' the posts & get info from other KC members, as they are invaluable & i think only someone with KC can appreciate the hiccups & issues we have!

I would like to suggest the following, which I wished I'd known 3 months ago:

Relax, sit down at a table with lots of tissues & hand towels to insert lenses

Take a cod liver oil & vit A tablet to help with dry eye

Get a sucker of ebay to remove the lens( UK lens fitters don't like them but are std in NZ & EU) But ENSURE the lens is actually in before you suck, as you don't want to suck your cornea. If you don't want to use it all the time, its fab if your lens gets stuck or displaced

Use some eye drops to aid comfort & moisture

If you suffer from allergies or sensitivity take a antihistamine before you put in your lens

Good hygiene for your hands & lens is VITAL

Make sure your hands are dry & if you get frustrated relax, put the lens back in the case, then try again


Stick with it, it does get better & don't take no for an answer!

All the best

Cx

[see595]

Thank you to everyone for replying to me. I really appreciate all the tips you have given me - I will be trying them today!

At my last appointment - which was the one where they said they would give up on me - I managed to get it in three times correctly and one time on the white part of my eye. So some success! But the problem for me seems to be having the confidebce at home with it. I've been told by hospital that if not much progreses by next appointment then this is it. But by telling me that I panic and find it even harder!

I really am thankful for all your replies and might need to see if there are other options like you suggested Lynn. I mentioned at one of my first hospital appointment about what options there were and I was told these hard lens or a cornea transplant. So don't think my local hospital will be much use unfortunately.

Well off I go to practice and fingers crossed!

Sx

[stevematic]

Hi see595

I hope you do find some success with this because I too struggled with putting them in and found them completely uncomfortable once inserted. I eventually gave up and try to cope with glasses/nothing.

[grewski]

When i first started wearing lenses 20 years ago I started by putting it onto the white then moving it into position. its probably not a good technique but will get you started. it takes quite a bit of confidence and practice to get it right. give your self time and take small steps.

[Loopy-Lou]

I really sympathise. Sometimes 'flooding' the eye with the soaking solution or hypromellose can help the lens to 'suck' onto the eye. If the lens itself is overloaded with fluid it can slip off the finger. You can always add more fluid after you've got it in.Make sure the fingers are not slippery, you need good grip of the eyelids, and you can always 'touch' the outer side of the lens onto the tissue to ensure it's not too wet.
Open the eye lids slowly and say in your head 'relax', the real knack is in relaxing the eye muscles as the finger goes towards to the eye with the lens on it, I know that's the hardest bit. Is IS possible to master this, even after many failed attempts. If it goes on 'off centre' it's possible to push it around the eye back on centre gently or press against the lower edge of it to 'flip' it back out, and if that fails, the suction pad. Use soaking solution or hypromellose to flood the eye to loosen it when removing it. Have a couple of goes and if you can feel yourself getting anxious/upset - stop, have a cup of tea, then go back to it, don't let yourself reach hair tearnng point, give yourself permission to have a few goes and stop. When you first start using them it is uncomfortable the first few days it feels like a brick but this does setttle building up the wear time slowly by an hour each day.
There is technique to this and we each develop our individual quirks on this, but equally important is how we approach this in our heads too, our mental and emotional approach. Take for example when I tore a muscle in my leg, if I tried to move that leg it really hurt, so when I went to move on that side I would 'tense up' before even moving it. Tense muscle will hurt more to move let alone injured tense muscle so I had to 'train' myself to not tense and do the opposite - relax, when I did it hurt less. I also had to stop berating myself for not having a fully functioning leg and not piling on so much importance to it.
If I've approached a lens with an attititude of 'this is my last chance and my whole life depends on it' - I am destined to fail because I've placed my whole life on this little piece of plastic! Therefore how we approach this in our heads matters as much as technique. I found it helped to speak of this things too and have those feelings acknowledged and validated.

[Max1967]

Hi I sympathize with you and had the same problem as you when I first started with lenses, used to end up with it in some rather uncomfortable places and struggle to remove it to try again. The best way I found was to lay a small mirror on the table in front of me and put the lens in the normal way but I could see where I was placing it so it was central every time, eventually you will do it second nature without the need of a mirror, hope this helps and good luck don't give up.