advice on level of optician knowledge and what my eyesight is doing

[bfc2]

Hi, could anyone advise me on the diagnostic ability of normal opticians, as I have a concern that I don't have normal myopia/astimatism going on. I'm finding it quite hard to find out, and I don't think that my two recent opticians have taken my comments seriously.

Perhaps a relevant question is: is there a clear boundary between Keratoconus and general astigmatism and myopia?

I'm concerned to get the best understanding for my eyes as the myopia has deteriorated over my adult life (which optician agrees shouldn't occur) and I see many, many images of things like candle flames and the moon, and am blinded by the star-shaped flare from car headlights (although I know many people may experience this). I don't experience life as simply a couple of overlays.

If no one is able to help, than that's Ok, but I wanted to ask just in case. It can be that those with a condition know more about it and managing it than the practitioner.

thank you.

[Lia Williams]

According to Moorfield's Hospital's website keratoconus affects up to 1 in 1000. This means that individual opticians may not see many cases. An indication that keratoconus is a possibility is the frequent changes of prescription and some of the vision you describe but you would need an ophthalmologist to confirm this. You could ask either your GP or optician to refer you to a hospital eye department to find out.

With keratoconus the astigmatism is irregular which means that better vision is usually achieved with contact lenses rather than glasses, although for mild cases glasses can work.

Lia

[bfc2]

thank you. I had contact lenses once which didn't have astimatic correction (before that was possible) and they were totally fine. the optician was surprised that I wasn't affected. I didn't notice any vision issues at all without this correction. Also, when I used eye drops for an injury which was also making my eye water a lot, I could see a fair bit better as if a smooth layer over the cornea temporarily helps - current optician didn't know why. Maybe high water levels help everyone though....