Corneal Ulcers. Advice Needed

[Neil H]

Hello all.

I've not been on here for quite a while mainly due to not having any problems.

I wear RGP's in both eyes and had a partial thickness graft in my right eye 3.1/2 years ago and things have been going along nicely.

On Tuesday however my boss mentioned that my right eye looked sore and it was. I put this down to my lenses and thought nothing of it. On Wednesday morning it was really bad so on my way to work stopped off the Royal Hallamshire (Sheffield) Eye Casualty thinking it was just a scratch. I turned out to be an ulcer though and now have antibiotic drops which appear to be working well. As of now i have no pain at all and things seem to be going well. I've been told to go back to casualty in the morning (Friday) but am wondering how long it may take to heal fully. As i have no pain does this mean it's gone, is it going, or can i expect this to be start of a long process to get rid of it,

I know the doctor i saw said the ulcer was only 1mm which to me doesn't sound that big, but what do i know?

Any advice on this topic would be appreciated as everything i've read on the internet so far has just made me worry more about it.

Thanks

Neil

[Graeme Stevenson]

There is huge debate within both Optometry and ophthalmology regarding the issue of corneal ulcers.
IMO if the "condition" is responding as rapidly as it appears to be then it is not a Microbial Keratitis which is one of the worst types of Corneal Ulcer. This is normally determined by worsening pain and compromised vision as well as other clinical signs.
I would expect that a serious sight threatening ulcer would be treated in a KC patients as an in patient.
ANY corneal ulcer should be treated seriously and is a serious warning that things can go seriously wrong in the future.

[Neil H]

Graeme

Thanks for your responce. I went back to casualty this morning and have to keep using the antibiotic eye drops but at a reduced rate for the net five days. Instead of every hour it's down to 4 times a day. I've been given some steroid drops as there is a slight hazy patch on my cornea where the ulcer is/was. I've got an eye apointment in 4-6 weeks just as a check up.

I Also took the time while i was there to stop in at the contact lens clinic to get my lens checked out and it would appear there are only minor scratches on it but it does have a hazy patch on it that doesn't clean off and seems to be inbedded into the lens itself. I've got an appointment at the clinic next week to check the perscription and fit before ordering a new lens.

Everything appears to be getting sorted out and i'm going through everything in how i deal with lenses as unfortunately after 20 years of wearing lenses i've become abit complacent. I'm even looking into whether i'm using the best cleaning fluids, how i store them ands things like that. Anything that i can do to stop this kind of thing happening again bascially.

I'll let people know how things are going but hopefully it should get sorted out soon enough.

Neil