UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hello All,
Just joined looking for help! I have had KC since 1995 and wear RGP lenses with glasses for reading. On the whole its stable and i get by and see [ ! ] the eye clinic every six months. The problem i have had for years is mucus discharge which constantly interfers with my lenses/ vision. I am forever fiddling to pluck it out and my lenses often pop up into the eyelid. Sometimes its like having a pin stuck in your eye when the mucus dislodges the lens. I have mentioned it numerous times at the clinic and its a case of oh well, try eye drops, take your lenses out, its just part of the problem. Live with it basically. Well it does seem to be getting worse. I have tried numerous eye drops which havent helped. Taking my lenses out is the last resort because i cant see anything! I have to wear the lenses all day for work. Has anyone else had similar problems and does anyone have any tips ?

Hello and welcome,
Yes, it is a common problem and tends to be worse at this time of year with dry air from central heating and air con. There is a whole range of different eye drops that might help and it can often take a bit of trial and error to find the one that works for you. As well as the standard wetting drops, there's also Clinitas Soothe or Systane which work for some people. I'm sure other forum users can suggest more names. What can also help is doing an eyelid massage with a hot flannel morning and night - that can help dissolve the oils that build up in the eyelids.
Good luck
Anne

Warm water, drop of baby shampoo, soak eyes in the water and use cotton wool buds to clean along the lid line/hair follies. There are also blephawipes used for blepharitis which will help clear out the eye area and hopefully keep mucus at bay.

As said previously, try and keep your eyes hydrated also. Using a night time gel also if needed such as lacrilube/carbomer gel.

Day time I use blink comfort drops/hypromellose drops/celluvisc drops.

Hope this helps

Thanks

I had lasik in 99 and my eyes were dry before the lasik. But they of course tell you that your eyes will go back to normal after the lasik procedure...not true. So then I got ectasia because the doc cut too deeply and now I live daily with what you describe. When I wake I squirt my eyses just to make them open. Then I squirt them with saline or refresh a few more times for good measure and then wash them with warm water. I squirt the lenses prior to putting them into my eyes and I squirt about every five to ten minutes to keep the eyes clear so i can see. I have found that the thinner drops do better at keeping the eyes clear and that using the thick gel types make my mucus worse. Here in the US Blink drops work well as does Refresh and normal saline is cheap so you can squirt every few minutes if necessary. Just make sure you keep the eyes hydrated because that mucus does feel like a knife in the eye under the rgp lenses.

Brad

I sympathise eye gunge under an RGP can be really painful, I haven't found anything which prevents it but I remove as much as possible with tissues/cotton buds before putting my lens in