UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

I will probbaly become famous here for being the one person without KC who asks the stupid questions. But as this has been on my mind now for sometime I have decided to come right out and ask this question.

Does anyone know if there is a link between KC and head injuries? I do have a good reason for asking. As many of you are aware David, my son who does have KC, is also autistic. However when he was 11 years old he was hit by a car while going to school. He was wearing glasses, which were shattered by the impact. At this stage David had a very minor problem with his eyes and needed his glasses for distance only. However after the accident each time he went for his check up his sight had deteriorated until last year when the KC was diagnosed. He also received head injuries through the impact as well as a broken shoulder and other less serious injuries.

It may well be a stupid question but I would love to know if there may be a link or if it's just me?

thanks

Carole

I've never had a head injury, but when he was eight my brother was knocked down by a car and from that day forward has always suffered really badly with hayfever (he didn't have it at all before) so who knows what a shock to the system can cause?

Hi Carole,

Your question is not as daft as you may think. There are many who think KC is caused by head trauma as think KC is caused by eye rubbing.

My KC was diagnosed after head trauma, resulting from two black eyes when I got kicked in the head during a game of rugby.

At the AGM, the guest speaker Mr tuft reffered to the collegen layer of the cornea and said that in KC the fibres move across each other. I think of this like continetal plates sliding across each other. Preasure builds up in the layers until friction is overcome and everything slides and stabilises until preasure builds again and the same happens.

If you think of KC in the same way, eye rubbing is then a symptom of a problem and helps overcome the friction between the collegen layers that results in a sudden deterioration. It is very easy to conclude based on face value that eye rubbing caused the KC when infact it 'may' have agrevated the condition.

Head trauma 'may' have a similar result.

There is also the scenario that KC comes on so slowly that the brain has the ability to comensate for the problem. Trauma comes along, in my case 2 black eyes that resulted in swelling stopping me seeing properly for two weeks and the brain in this time has forgotten how to compensate hence a sudden deterioration in sight.

From Mr tufts presentation, all the above are probably true to some extent with respect to agrevating the condition.

As to trauma being a direct cause, my personal opinion from what I have learnt from Mr Tuft and other medical specialists, the answer is NO.

I hope this helps, I am sure there will be some who will disagree, but this afterall is a forum where we share our experiences and opinions.

Sorry to hear about the accident David had - sounds like it was nasty.

I had a head injury 2 years ago, and although I'd already had KC for several years by then, I've not particularly noticed that my vision has changed as a result of the head injury. At least, I'd never made the link. My vision seems to be deteriorating at a similar rate to beforehand.

I don't think it's a stupid question though - like Alison says, a shock to the system can do all sorts of things, would be interesting to know if anyone does know if there is a link.

Hmmm this thread made me think!...I had a head injury some 7 years back where I decided to smash my head through the side and front windscreen of my car..whilst flipping my car 4 times on the M11....at that time i was wearing soft perms i think.......

...so you were already keratoconic then?

Yes....mild though...but I am now thinking that it was from that point that my KC in my right eye accelerated......but this could be a coincidence........

Now it is all out in the open!

When Jay was younger he was a bitter of a nutter

Not a stupid question at all, and one that has been asked before on this forum when it produced several 'trauma' stories from members. But as KC is usually diagnosed in the teens or early 20s, it's hard to make any definite links. We had a talk at our 1st conference from the head of KC research in Bristol, who talked about the idea of a 'trigger' which started the process of KC in susceptible individuals, and mentioned trauma and eye rubbing as possible triggers. This was 5 years ago, so I don't know if further research has done anything to prove or disprove this theory.
Anne

Very difficult to prove without beating the patient round the head!

Although I bet the optoms know a few patients they would like beat about the head!