UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hello,

I've got Keratoconus in both eyes, with the right eye being worse than my left. I had Cross-Linking done a few years ago on my right eye, and both eyes now seem stable.

I used to have to rely on contact lenses for driving, but now I'm able to drive with just my glasses on. (Only in the daytime though. At night's a bit more difficult and I tend to still wear my contacts, but the problem is, I tend to find that using my contact lenses for longer than a couple of hours can become really irritating).

I've been considering applying for a paramedic science course at University and I'm just concerned that my eyesight might cause problems (more specifically, my inability to drive at night without contacts, which will then become irritating after being worn for a while).

Are there any Paramedics on here who have Keratoconus? If so, could you tell me how you get on? Does your eye condition cause you issues in your role? What about driving at night?

Thank you!

Hi Matty,
I can't help on the paramedic front, but just wonder if the answer might be trying different contact lenses. Is it the standard corneal rgp lenses you have? Has piggy-backing (wearing a soft lens under the rigid one) ever been suggested for you? Or mini scleral lenses? Or even, if your eyes drying out is what's making the lenses uncomfortable, using hydrating drops (there's a variety of those).
I do hope you'll be able to find an answer.

Hi!
I think the lenses I currently have are called hybrid lenses, but I'm not sure. They're hard in the middle, then soft around the outside. I tried some other lenses a few years ago, but sadly didn't find any that were comfortable. It was a few years ago now, so I can't remember the names of the ones I'd tried.

When I have bought up the issues of my contact lenses to the eye specialist, she said that it's due to the eyes becoming dry and irritated, and did say about lubricating eye drops, but I found that even when applying eye drops regularly, they'd still give me issues. Piggy-backing has never been suggested before. Do people find that comfortable?

Thankfully, my vision is pretty good with just my glasses on, and I'm comfortable and happy using them throughout the day to drive etc. It's just at night where it becomes an issue, because of the lights of oncoming cars etc. I don't really need to drive much at night currently, so I've not needed to wear my lenses for quite a while. I spoke to my eye specialist about it, and she was happy I was managing with my glasses. She even mentioned potentially discharging me after my next appointment (which should be in September). Since my last appointment though, I've been looking into doing a Paramedic course, and obviously night time driving could become an issue. I'll mention the suggestions you've made about different lenses etc at my next appointment and see what she suggests. Thank you.