UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi, I hope you all are doing great and are in positive light.

I am 32 year old male and have got KC. My right eye got advanced KC and I am using sacleral lens. My left eye had good vision with the glasses until I told my optometrist to fit me with sacleral lens in that eye too after CXL. She did warn me that I will loose my good glasses vision if I start wearing sacleral lens in that eye. I had to bite the bullet and said fit me as I work as an actor and with one eye with lens and other not, the size is quite apparent on camera.

Now I am wearing both sacleral lenses. As soon as I take my lenses out, my right eye glasses are not working that great anymore. I can see but I know the vision has changed. My doctor said that that's because sacleral lenses changes the shape of the eye temporarily and it can take unto 3-4 weeks for the eye to go back to normal shape. May be then my glasses vision will go back to normal in left eye?

Have anybody experienced the same?

Everybody's circumstances are different so this may not work for you. But when I was working full time and wearing corneal rgp lenses (not scleral) with glasses to wear as a backup when my eyes were tired at the end of the day and I took my lenses out, I would ask for a late afternoon appointment for my glasses refraction. That way, the glasses prescription would match how my eyes were when I took my lenses out. Not perfect, and after a few hours when the corneas started 'relaxing' the vision was not as good. But it is a common problem.

The scleral lens is mainly there to 'fix' the distortion caused by the KC. If your optometrist recommends you have one then is because your KC is bad enough that they cannot improve your vision anymore with spectacles. Once the scleral lens is fitting well, the prescription that is added to that lens should get you as good if not better than before. If you take the lens out I would not expect your vision with spectacles to be as good however they adjust your prescription.