glasses worn over RGP lenses

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mikey2017
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glasses worn over RGP lenses

Postby mikey2017 » Wed 22 Nov 2017 7:35 pm

Hi All

just wondered if anyone wears glasses over their contact lenses to help with long distance. i can't find much info about it online so thought some people on here might have had similar situations or want to know it could be an option for them.

I have KC and rely on my RGP aswell as piggy backing as my job is physical and find this helps ease the pain of RGP. although my eyes do still get dry. I was told for YEAAAAAAARS i couldn't wear glasses with my lenses as a boost, but i went to Moorfileds last week as a new patient ( as my normal person retired) and THEY asked me if i had glasses and if i would like to try wearing them. I had a test and i now have prescribed glasses to wear over the top of my lenses to give a little boost. i think it has helped a little bit, as a car passenger i can see signs slightly clearer and more prominently especially reflective signs at night. i do still get a little confused with number plates but 3 times out of 5 i seem to get them right which is amazing for me at about 20 meters back. i also got tested for glasses to wear when i'm not wearing my lenses - so for at night or in the morning ' the hard bit' they said. but after a few more tests with my lenses OUT , i could see about 4/5 lines which seemed like a miracle! as without lenses i can't even see the black print of the big A!!! they are VERY strong glasses but will hopefully help with mornings/late nights, watching tv or if i'm on a long haul flight and just sitting there. i don't think i could wear them out. but at the moment my eyes are an inch away from objects to properly see without lenses! so anything will be a bonus for my everyday living and to make things easier - the worst is putting lenses into tired eyes! as you'll all know.
has anyone else experienced anything like this? my eyes are slightly too thin for Cross linking now which is annoying, i am 30 next year and for the last 2-3 years my eyes have stayed the same. before this they were changing ALL the time with lenses pinging out all the time! so hoping they have stabilised...

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Anne Klepacz
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Re: glasses worn over RGP lenses

Postby Anne Klepacz » Wed 22 Nov 2017 8:53 pm

Hello Mikey and welcome to the forum,
Thank you for this. I wear glasses on top of contact lenses for reading rather than for distance. But there's no reason it shouldn't also work the other way round as it does for you. So yes, it is an option that people should be aware of. As is the idea of 'back up glasses' to give the eyes a break from lenses, or for the 'hard bits' of the day. They won't work for everyone with KC - if it's too advanced then glasses will just produce a blur. But for quite a few people they do give a bit of useful sight and can be a life saver if lenses have to be left out because of an infection or an abrasion. It's something that hospital optometrists often don't mention, so it's good to hear that your Moorfields optom suggested both these options to you.
And fingers crossed that your KC has stabilised now!

John Thatcher
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Re: glasses worn over RGP lenses

Postby John Thatcher » Thu 23 Nov 2017 5:23 pm

I've worn glasses over contact lenses for decades Mikey and never had or been told there is a problem. I think at an earlier stage of my KC this was to get a better balance of corrective power between the contact lenses so some power went on one spec lens but I have been through many types of lenses and specs. As I need reading correction, I have varifocal spec lenses but there is still some distance power on one of the spec lenses and my corrected vision is excellent. Be interested to know the origin of this idea if anyone can shed light on it. Good luck, John

mikey2017
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Re: glasses worn over RGP lenses

Postby mikey2017 » Thu 23 Nov 2017 6:01 pm

thanks for all this- i was just curious as most things online say glasses are mostly only used at the beginning stages of KC before moving on the contacts after which glasses won't really work, and this is what i was told for years.. i was just wondering if any younger KC patients knew this could be an option in terms of taking driving tests etc to give an extra boost. as most high street opticians don't test for glasses when you have KC (so i have found)
I'm a little annoyed at the person I used to see about my eyes. i'm only 29 but the last 10 years i have only relied on contact lenses and thought that was the best my vision was ever going to get. so it all seems really new to me now i'm under Moorfields and have specs to wear over my lenses with a bit more power. i still wonder if there is room for improvement with these spec lenses. but it's certainly making me squint less!

RichardL
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Re: glasses worn over RGP lenses

Postby RichardL » Wed 03 Jan 2018 5:38 pm

Hi Mikey,

I've just joined the forum and seen your post. I wear glasses over RGP Scleral lenses, its a great combination which gives me almost 20:20 vision when using them together. Plus after 30+ years of wearing glasses I felt naked without them on when using lenses alone, so love that I have an excuse to wear nice glasses again.
Good Luck!
Richard


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