UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

hi,
thank you for my eye! lol. i showed it off at work today.
i'm due to go to the optician wednesday to have hard lens fitted. the optician didn't seem very confident that i would be able to use them as i have had trouble tolerating soft lens, so he suggested that i may have to piggy back. he suggested that it could take me some time to get used to wearing them up to about 3 months he said.
what i want to know is, what is the average wearing time for these type of lens, are they awkard to use and wear? will i be able to continue to work and drive?
i think that really i'm a little bit frightened of what is happening at the moment as it all seems to be moving very fast. i know that i haven't got KC as bad as i could have, but it's still scary. or am i just being a bit of a wuss?

Hi Debby,

Gettnig used to lenses can take 3 months or more with some people.

You might take well to the hard lenses. I have to use eye drops to coat my eye before putting lenses in otherwise I have an allergic reaction to the RGP material.

RGP lenses allow more oxygen to reach the cornea compared to a soft lens. So it may be a soft lens you ahve a problem with, but RGP's may well suite you.

To be honest if you ahve a problem with soft lenses I can not understand why your optom feels iggyback will be OK as it will still be a soft lens in direct contact with the cornea?

Soft lenses are a silicone/hydrogel mix and sensitivity to silicone is more common than you might think.

For those who have comfortable lens wear, depending on optom, some recoemnd for all lenses us KC peopel wear that 8 hours is the max, others say 12 hours.

Bottom line is as soon as you feel discomfort it is best to take the lenses out.

It took me about 2 months to get fuly used to my lenses.

As long as you get at east 6/12 you can still drive. As for working your employers under the disability discrimination act have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments and do their best to try and allow you to work as normal as possible. Then you are obliged to give these changes a fair go to adapt to them. You are allowed to say if things do not work, but as no one knows our problems like we do, you do ave a responsibility to suggests things that may help, even if you ahve to bouce a few ideas round this forum first. Their is access to work scheme to help, Action for the Blind and RNIB are helpful people too. Have a look at the employee leaflet on the home page.

Take your time with lens fitting and give the optom as much feedback as possible. Just because a lens looks right on your eye, does not mean it is right for you. Lens fitting is a team effort and can take several attempts.

Hope this helps.

Debbie

Hi there! Hard lenses can be difficult to get used to at first as they are a lot different to than soft lenses. They are smaller and harder plastic which can be uncomfortable for a while until you get a good fit.

Piggy backing might be a good idea for you if you are now used to soft lenses. My RGP lens started to be really painful so i now piggy back it with a plain soft lens underneath. I don't feel the hard lens on top and find it much better for comfort.

Vision wise there is no difference using piggy backs, but from soft to hard there may well be. A lot of people find vision better with hard lenses though i have never got good vision with soft lenses on their own.

Hoping this helps and good luck with it!

Sweet X x X

Hi,
I am just going through the same process having got my RGPs last week. I also had soft lenses previously.

The good news for me was that being used to soft lenses made the idea of putting things in your eye less alien. My eye was tolerent too, ie I didn't blink it out as a reflex action.

I did find the hardness of the lens different and I think that's the bit that takes some getting used to. I was lucky in that I had no allergic reactions it was just a case of getting used to it. I built up an hour a day as suggested and had break on Sunday. I had them in for 8 hours yesterday. You do get used to them and in fact I hate taking them out. We are having glorious weather up here in Scotland and the Lochs, glens and hills where are I work are fabulous. They had just become amorphous lumps of green and grey and purple over the last few years, so I am like a kiddy in a sweet shop!
I noticed that my lower eye lids are a little swollen and red so I have left them out today to give them a rest.
I can see how it would take months to get used to them, its just a strange feeling. I think its one day at a time...

Good luck. I hope the rgps work for you.