UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi,

I was first diagnosed with Keratoconus in around 1992 when I first noticed very blurred vision in my right eye, the only option at the time was for me to wear a hard contact lens which I tried for a few weeks and couldn't stand the pain. By the next appointment with my consultant, he advised that the only option for me was a corneal graft - that was not something I wanted to do at the time as my left eye was very good - so I persevered.

In the last couple of years my left eye has started to show clear signs of the onset of the Keratoconus and my optician has done a number of topography scans which show its getting slightly worse - however he puts the changes in my eyesight down to age rather than the condition - Ive been wearing reading glasses for about 3 years now and always wear them when driving.

Yesterday I visited for a checkup and he has referred me back to the consultant at my local NHS hospital for potential CXL treatment as he believes I meet all the requirements. My only concern is that Ive read its only usually done in patients under 35ish - Im 48... does anyone have a similar experience ?

Thoughts and advise most welcome, I really don't want the graft in my right eye until its the only option!

Regards
Andy

Hello and welcome to the forum. Vision changes could be due to your age, as it's unusual for keratoconus to progress later in life. In fact, my consultant described CXL as "Fast forwarding your eyes to the age of 40, when they stop progressing naturally". It's also worth considering that the older you have CXL performed the more likely there is to be a risk... my consultant also said to me he recommends it to patients under 30, but not so much to ones over 30 if there's only a small progression. This was particularly annoying to me as I'm bang on 30 years old! Anyway, you might want to read my own thread on here about my experiences, I had a good and bad results.

On a side note, as recently mentioned to someone else, it could well be worth checking the latest soft lenses for you. They're always getting better where technology advances and personally I'm now much more happier with my new soft lenses than I ever was with my hard lenses.

Olly.

Hello Andyc
My eye condition is very different to yours but I had cross linking or cxl in November 2014 . I am 54 and believe it was the best time to undergo the procedure in my case.
I had epi-on cxl which is less invasive, less painful and quicker to heal. There's also less risk of infections and scarring.
I wouldn't recommend anyone undergoing any procedure if they have a satisfactory Best Corrected Vision as there's always a risk involved with any interference.
There's still a lot of research and debate about cxl and whether it's epi-on or off it takes a year off your life and being exposed to uv light may have its own risks. Wish you all the Best in future .