UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi

Can anyone share any experiences that they have had with mini sclerals. I recently tried the latest kerasoft lenses but were useless. However the mini sclerals showed some promise. i was just wondering if anyone has had and experience with them, good or bad!!

Thanks pete

petedoc

I used a "full-fat" scleral lens, but never the mini scleral.

The "full-fat" version was great!

Andrew

Hi Andrew

Thanks for the response. Do they give as good vision as normal RGP lenses or do you have to compramise a little vision for comfort??

Many thanks

Pete

My scleral was wonderful; it gave me better vision than I had been getting with RGP corneals, although at first I was very limited in wear time. They solved this problem by drilling a hole in the lens so that air (and therefore oxygen) could pass directly. The hole was rather quaintly called a "fenestration".

Andrew

Hi
I tried the mini scleral and although i didn't get on with it, it was by far the most comfortable lens i tried. Once you get the hang of getting them in with no air bubbles (you have to fill them with fluid).
I think the problem i had was my eyes are extremely sensitive and lenses just were not a option. (i have since had both eye's grafted)
I defintely think you should give them a go
Good Luck

Anne

Hi I'm interested in these lenses too. My left eye is starting to get difficult to fit with a standard RGP.

Does anyone have a weblink or details of the manufacturers so i can look them up in a bit more detail.

Thanks

Oh yes, I remember the little fenestrationholes drilled in my scleral lenses.
They now make sclerals (and minisclerals) out of the same RGP (- rigip gas permeable, or "breathable") polymers as the RGP corneal lenses, so they don't need holes. Or slots, or channels. Though I distinctly remember trying to persuade Ken to bow to the inevitable and just drill ohles in mine anyway!
To find out more, try looking up:
Innovative Sclerals
or
Ken Pullum
Ken is the renowned "Mr Sclerals" or Moorfields, Oxford, Hartford and I think some other places too. And I think has his own web site.
Rosemary

When I put my scleral into my eye, I had to fill the lens with saline. This meant that I could try to ensure that my first blink would send a little fountain of saline through the fenestration. I always had this fantasy that one day I'd manage to 'squirt' somebody near me, but of course it never really happened.

Andrew

Hello,

I'm an Optometrist and budding contact lens 'specialist' in Central London. The clinic I work in is very KC friendly, and we are currently trying some new lenses from the States, which have totally changed the way i fit lenses for KC. The first of these is a mini-mini(!) scleral, or a 'corneo-scleral', which are between 13.5-15mm in diameter, and distribute their weight accross the cornea AND the sclera (unlike a full-scleral which is about 23mm in diameter and normally vaults the cornea entirely). Because the corneo-sclerals are larger, the lids ovrhang the edges in their normal open state, meaning they don't rub against the lens edges on every blink. Becasue of this they are exeedingly comfortable, about the same lens sensation as a thick soft lens. The vision they give is normally as good as an RGP.

I've also bee fitting Synergeyes, which are a hybrid RGP centre/soft skirt lens with high oxygen permeability (unlike Softperms), which are also good.

For more info about sclerals, as another poster says above, you need Ken Pullum, whose website is http://www.sclerals.com. I have in fact just been on a two day course at his clinic in Hertford, learning how to fit sclerals- if you can learn to put them in, they are a great alternative to normal corneal lenses. The vision they give, as a general rule, is not as good as with normal RGPs, but not far off. They are usually much more comfortable though, as they do not touch the cornea at all, just the sclera.

I hope this helps!

sophietw

Welcome to the forum.

Have you registered with our optometrists section. I am sure that you'd find the contacts there of great value.

Good to welcome another optometrist on board.

Andrew