UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

hi everyone!! i was diagnosed with KC five years ago, my vision can not be improved with glasses and i can not tolerate contacts. i am thinking of going for corneal therapy ( where you wear contact lenses at night to reshape the cornea) is there anyone out there whos had this or consdidered having it?? is this the right option for KC?
please help!!
thanks

Hello eyes and welcome to the forum.

So far as I know, the approach you describe is not reccomended for keratoconus. Also, why would you wear contact lenses at night if your eye can't tolerate them during the day?

What lenses have you tried. There are several for people with KC. Some Soft, some hard, some hybrid.

All the best.

Andrew

Err yes.. Andrew is quite right! If you can't tolerate contacts then what makes you think wearing them at night will help? You will simply be kept awake with the discomfort!

Ortho K is definitely NOT the way to go for KC. If it was as simple as that we would not have so many hospital departments dedicated to KC! The reason for this is that Ortho K (corneal therapy) depends on reshaping the cornea using rigid lenses.The KC cornea is already vulnerable to mechanical damage, so this is really not a wise thing to do.

As Andrew says - there are other options such as soft, hybrid or large, semi-scleral lenses which are all more comfortable than RGPs.

Lynn

eyes

How are you getting on?

Andrew

sorry for the late response Andrew!!
Got a second appointment with my orthokeratologist on wednesday. Really confused though... done alot of research on corneal therapy (ortho k) for KC. it seems like not many doctors agree on its effective for KC patients and also long term effects not known yet. my ortho however (who by the way has had twenty five years of experience) believes it works... in fact he already has patients with KC on the same therapy and according to him the results are dramatic. contacted a couple more orthokeratologists and been advised corneal therapy is definately not the right option for a KC patient!!!
I will go down wednesday armed with a whole load of questions... and will decide thereafter.. will keep you posted.

oh and by the way the idea is i will be asleep while wearing the lenses hence less irration!!!

Eyes

I would really question sleeping with RGP lenses being less iritating, I had RGP lenses for about 4 years which were a pretty good fit but I could never sleep in them because they were so uncomfortable under the eye lids.

The soft lenses for KC however, I can fall asleep wearing but I only do so for a short preiod as they are not designed to be slept in.

The receptionist at my local high street optom has tried this for myopia and she said they were less comfortable than a soft lens and she found it hard to sleep with them in and she has what would be considered to be a normal cornea.

Hi I have heard of this too (corneal therapy) it was on the programme 'this morning' sometime ago, stating that it reshapes the cornea in the sleep leaving you with a correctly shaped cornea when you wake, giving good vision throughout the day. Im not sure how effective this method is but it would be interesting to read a research paper on it, anyone come across any? Ive been told that the cornea is regenerated every 6 days, i can find it believable how providing an artificial structure during sleep will help to reshape the cornea over time, as the cornea is shaped into the correct structure while it regenerates. Anyone got any hard facts about this topic?

eyes did your practitioner recommend this treatment? does he/she have any research on this treatment?

I IM'd the OP yesterday and s/he said the treatment is going great and it has dramatically improved his/her sight.

hi i have been on corneal therapy for almost three months now and my vision has improved dramatically... and more importantly i can drive now!!! ( am one line short of gaining twenty twenty vision). wearing RGP's at night is so much better then wearing them during the day.
The orthokeratologist is in leicester (Barot opticians).. he is brilliant. it would be worth making an appointment to see what he says. one thing though it is very costly but then again its well worth it. All the best

Does anyone know of any studies regarding 'corneal therapy' with KC patients? Obviously this is just one case and it may depend on the severity of the patient's condition.

I find this treatment hard to believe frankly, wouldn't wearing RGP's during the night mean the cornea was deprived of oxygen for too long?

Thought these were quite interesting - [link1] [link2]