UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

HI Buzain Just to explain to others who may not know what T-CAT is.... This procedure is a laser correction to improve refractive error done at the same time as CXL. This has two ramifications: 1) The procedure does involve removing some corneal tissue, as any PRK procedure does, and therefore will ...

Hi Lou It doesn't really simply depend on the contact lens type - it depends on the design and the material. For example, RGP's are called that because RGP stands for R igid G as P ermeable. The actual correct terminology for these kind of lenses is "corneal" and when they were first inven...

Just to clarify, my post was a general question to everyone in order to see whether they thought they felt they had a visual disability. This is actually a different question as to whether one copes with that disability. To be very clear, and this is directed purely at the forum, not to any individu...

Lousie makes some excellent points. As a professional, who has been involved in Low Vision Committees, as well as managing patients with KC, my opinion is that our society has failed to keep up with the change in meaning of the term visual disablility over the decades. The current definitions are ov...

This is a very thorny question. It's a mixture of real lack of knowledge and reluctance to admit their are issues. As an optometrist who specialises in keratoconus and ectasia, I find that a patient generally can become ectasic 6 or 7 years post LASIK. Sometimes, in retrospect, an issue can be seen ...

Hi Louise Re the Dundee study... good point. To explain: This is purely a snapshot and reflects that people with KC tend to try and keep in work when they can. The study was conducted between 1997 and 2000 which was at a time when we had a much better economic climate. This data also does not reflec...

Hi Lou I know we are now talking offline but I think we should also keep this going here. As you say, mental health aspects are very important, simply because this is a huge part of the assessments. Optometrists and reporting Unfortunately, optometrists are not used to this sort of interaction. Thei...

Just adding a few points to the excellent responses here. There is no easy answer to this. The cheapest option and best of a difficult situation would be just to go with CXL in both eyes, starting with the left. As has been said, there are NHS hospitals doing this now but its a case of getting PCT f...

Lou/Chris Excellent thread. Visual issues are generally misunderstood by the "system", which likes the definition of disability to be cut and dried. For instance, while trying to determine what advice is given to professionals at DWP, the only real indication of vision problems in the list...

HI Fella I am a UK optometrist who has followed a good number of patients post cross luinking. I presume you are now not wearing RGPs at all? I am not sure if it was explained to you that rigid lenses mould the cornea and that when you come out of them, the cornea takes time to go back to the origin...