Contact lenses causing scratches

[Elizabeth-Louise]

I have recently been to visit my consultant and have been told that my contact lenses have scratched my eye surface and I now have an infection *ouch!*

I was wondering if this is a regular occurrence with contact lenses wearers, or if this is exclusive to KC sufferers due to my eye being mis-shapen.

Also any advice on how to avoid this in future would be greatly appreciated!

Thankyou

(I am new to this forum so I hope this post is in the right place!)

[John Smith]

Hi Elizabeth-Louise, and welcome to the forum.

I certainly wouldn't say that the scratches are because of your KC; but it does sound like the sort of damage that can easily be caused by ill-fitting RGP contact lenses.

I'm sorry to hear that the scratches have caused an infection. That doesn't sound nice at all, and it's not something that I've come across before.

You should certainly take the advice of your optician, but perhaps a better fitting contact lens could be prescribed, or you could go with a "piggy-back" approach (wearing the RGP lens on top of a soft bandage lens) or for a contact-free scleral lens.

What do other people think?

[Michael P]

Hi Elizabeth-Louise, you say that lenses have caused damage to the surface of your eye. I take it that only one eye has been scratched.

I wonder whether some grit or something actually scratched your eye rather than a lens.

Anyway, I hope the infection clears up very soon.

[GarethB]

The nature of our lenses, it is possible for the lens to scratch the cornea if the fit is wrong and by the same token Michael is quite correct that if grit gets under your lens, it too can cause stractching.

Depending on severity this can all heal up and even if there is scarring there are many instances where this has absolutly no effect on future corrected vision.

So I hope you get well soon.

[Arun]

Hi Elizabeth.

I went through a period of about 8 months last year when everytime I put any lens in my left eye I would get scratch. Some of them got infected and I also managed an ulcer in that period. But after trying a few lenses over this period I got a mini-scleral lens (they are pretty big) and I have not had any incidence since.

If your consultant has told you it is the lenses that is causing the scratch, (because he or she can see where the lens is rubbing against your cornea) then I would agree with John and suggest that you see fitter and see about the possiblity getting a slightly different lens.

Hope you get well soon and welcome to the forum

[Hari Navarro]

What is lens fit? By that I mean what is it that proclaims a perfect fit?
I can see how I can walk into a clothing shop and buy a well made suit... that fits. But how can a thin slither of plastic actually 'fit' our complex keratoconic profile?

I see lens wear as a daily balancing act... sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
I'm sure that we all try our best to keep to the KC routine of lens care (But how many times does our every day life throw this process out of wack?)... how much effect does even the slightest corneal insult have on our KC prospects?

There is nothing to fear Elizabeth-Louise as long as you are informed... this means educating yourself to all that KC treatment has to offer.

The thing with keratoconus is that it's effects are entirely relevant to the patient. There is no standardized cure-all. You have to fully research your options from a personal perpective.
It may very well be that your infection was caused by a particle of dust, but who's to say?

As Gareth rightly says here... there is as much evidence for a given problem as there is against.
So, In my opinion the answer is to go with what feels right... in my case contacts just did not feel right.
As has also been said here, our body is very adept at telling us when something is wrong and we would perhaps be well served to listen to it more often.

Hari

[Barney]

Very possible that the lens has caused the scratch but more likely by the lens harbouring grit as Michael points out than the lens itself. One of the problems with lenses is that we train ourselves to ignore the soreness they cause so that we’re less likely to notice things entering the eye that we shouldn’t ignore.

It’s not something supplying lens suppliers often warn about but it’s one of several potential problems with all types of contact lenses, not just those used for KC patients. Even with the soft lenses now heavily promoted for extended use, we may not know of the long-term consequences for some people until many years hence.

For KC patients the lens will often be fitted to touch the centre of the cornea. For some reason, it was once widely thought that this could prevent or slow the progression of KC though that view seems less often held now. The constant rubbing of lenses fitted in that way on the cornea can lead to permanent scarring and clouded vision.

[John Smith]

That's a good point Barney. We do indeed get used to the odd sharp pain from an RGP lens.

There has to be a point where the lens comes out, but then we're blind, so we try and leave it in until the last minute.

"Stuff under the lens" - my greatest joy when progressing to sclerals was that no longer happened!

[Lesley Foster]

John,

I have to agree with you about sclerals, it makes a difference when you can go out on a windy day and not worry about stuff getting behind the lens or the lens falling out and blowing away as has happened to me before now.

Lesley,

ps does this mean I've reached 100 posts?

[John Smith]

Yes Lesley, it does. Happy centenery!