contact lens and dry eyes

[debby dennis]

hi,
i found out in April that i had keratoconus, but was told that it wasn't bad and have been dicharged by the ey hospital. i've been ok and haven't had any problems, was able to use glasses and have got soft contact lenses. i had problems seeing my work on the computer last week and saw my optician. he's checked and has told me that my sight had changed slightly and that i should wear my contact lens at work. i've worn them, but they tend to make me very tired and keep drying. i have to keep taking them out and cleaning them, but the relief doesn't last long. i'm finding it difficult to focus between the papaerwok and the computer screen and came home sick today with eye ache and a headache. has anyone got any advice on how to cope with the lenses in all day every day. i haven't said anything at work about having this as i wasn't sure whether i should.

[David Bennett]

Hi Debby,

Talk to your Optom about the DSE regulations wrt the use od VDU screens. I think you'll find that uou need to cut doen the amountot time you use the screen or take Regular breaks. other tips include:

1) Put Plants around the screen (add to the humidity)
2) add pots cups of water around the screen (Don;t spill them over the keyboard...
3) Use *regular* lubrication drops - non preserved Systane are excellent with both GP and soft lenses)
4) Regular blinks! (You may ned to practice these!)
5) regular eye lid hygeine (Hot compresses 2x day) will help

Just a few thoughts . I'm sure the other seasoned Professionals will have other good ideas!

Best

Davud

[GarethB]

I use computers all the time now and the air con in offices does not help either.

In addition to Davids comments, keeping youself well hydrated helps too.

Have alook at theHSE Web Site ann search for 'Working with VDU's.

The document mentions VDU causing problems with contact lenses, headache causes.

It also states there is no legal limit but you do need to break up long spells of VDU work. I have a time and every half hour I will get up and stretch my legs and also top up my glass of water. So firstly I am never at the VDU for too long and secondly I always have water at my side which helps me stay hydrated and is always putting some humidity back in the air.

If you are in an airconditioned office you may have to assess your work staion regarding proximity to air vents. I requested that I be moved further away from the air con vent and as a result the dryness in my eyes went down.

It sounds like you have what I had before christmas, but by making many minor changes the accumalative effect is enormous. I did find that Systane was better than any other drops but it I did have to use them every hour or two initially but after a couple of months I only use them morning and night now unless it is particullarly hot outside like July was.

Hope this helps.

[Matthew_]

Hi Debbie,
Like you I have mild KC but find the biggest problem is PC work. I have not got my lenses yet but found a couple of small changes made a big difference to eye strain. I have started using an application called 'magnifier' on the microsoft OS. This can be found on start/programs/accessories/accessibility/magnifier. This partitions the top section of the screen which can magnify the area around the mouse by two or up to nine times. I find this very helpful, at least for reading the screen. The problem is it doesn't follow the cursor very well so its not so good for typing. I understand the Mac OS also has something similar (help me out Andrew!). I also upped the DPI settings, I think there is a thread about this under Frequently Asked Questions. I found all these things help my eye strain enormously and I can use the PC all the time without any lenses. It maybe then that you can save your lens use for other important things like driving etc. I also got a work place assesment and they are going to provide me with some better software but also a 19" screen and a daylight desklamp. I found telling my employer was most useful and got the help I needed which in turn has helped me be more productive. I also try to get away from the PC whenever I can; its amazing how you get done face to face instead of by e-mail!
Good Luck!

[debby dennis]

hi,

thanks for the ideas. i'm on annual leave this week (getting kids ready for school, yeah!)
am seeing the optician on wednesday for a contact lens check and hopefully will get some information from him then. he gave me some eye drops last time, but they don't seem thelp for very long. Also seem to be squinting a lot now even with my lens in. Hopefully have some good news wednesday

[debby dennis]

hello,

i saw the optician wednesday and mentioned that i was having trouble with dry eyes. he did a thorough check and advised me to change lenses for new ones (monthly disposables) due to the lens' being smeared with sticky stuff. i did ask whether this would be protien and he said that it's like spray on the lens (like hairspray on a mirror, don't use the stuff) He checked the inside of my eyelids as well and said that it looks like i could have an allergic reaction and this could be why my lens were "dirty". have been given a different type of solution to use and have to go back in 3 weeks time. he's also ordered new lens as i could be having a reaction to the ones that i'm using. put a new pair of lens in on thursday and only managed a few hours before they went cloudy and started to dry. have to admit that i tend to sneeze continuously at everything.
has anyone else had a reaction to the lens used or solutions. any ideas as i go back to work this week.

[GarethB]

Hi Debby,

I have had an alergic reation to my lenses, but I am still using the original lenses. This is because the tears I produce were missing one of the components so the eye lids experienced more friction than normal over the lens so the lids became inflamed. This also had the effect that when the lens moved over the corena as they are meant to that the corena became tender.

After much discussion with people here I started to use eye drops and after months of tryig different ones found Systane did the job. Initially I had to use the drops every couple hours which meant taking my lenses out as recomened by the eye drop manufacturers. Gradually my lens wear started to increase and I get a regular twelve hours now.

As afr as contact lens solutions go, I can only tolerate Bausch and Lomb Boston Advance solutions.

To determine what the cause of your sensitivity is, you need to try one new thing at a time and it may take weeks or months to get to the bottom of it if it is solutions that is the cause or you need eye drops.

[Stephen Borthwick]

This sounds a bit familiar. I wore soft(ish) lenses for a while but I never could manage more than about 4 hrs a day before they irritated me. My eyes felt really dry, but what did make it better was Focus Aqua solution (which seems to keep the lenses 'moister') and Focus Aqua eye drops every now and again. Another, seperate, problem was that the lenses irritated my eyelids. Having tried (and failed to tolerate) numerous different lenses I'm now having INTACS (one eye at a time).

Do your monthly lenses do anything for KC - I thought, like dailies, they made no difference because they just drape over the cornea? If they don't correct the KC effects you might as well carry on with glasses?

[Val G]

Hi Debby

I can tolerate my lenses much better if I don't put them in first thing in the morning. I use public transport, so I can manage to get to work without them, this gives my eyes from 6.30 till 8.30 to 'clear' and then they don't fuzz up my lenses.