schlerals

[serge111]

can someone give me more info on those? are they comfortable? heavy? noticable? i am only 26...so i am kind of active ... i cant wear RGP's cuz they hurt and soft lenses give me kind of a crappy vision...but i do spend a lot of time on the computer so if i can use schlerals just during that time would be of big help...looking forward to responses.

[Lesley Foster]

Serge111,

I have been weaing sclerals full time for nearly two years now and I find them comfortable. I originally had one made for me, from a mould, about 20 years ago but didn't get on with it very well so continued with corneal lenses however eventually I could no longer get them to fit properly hence the sclerals. I have a mini scleral for my right eye and a larger one in my left eye and really the only problem I have is with air bubbles which can be a nuisance. Funnily enough I can now tolerate my original scleral, which has little holes in it for tear flow and oxygen flow (I thnk),much better and therefore alternate between the two in my left eye. The one main advantage is that they don't fall out like corneal lenses and really you can do anything whilst wearing them.

There are others here who also wear sclerals who maybe able to offer advice.

Good luck.

Lesley.

[Andrew MacLean]

I wore a scleral in my left eye after I became unable to wear an RGP corneal in that tye. It extended the useful life of my pre-graft left eye for a couple of years and I am grateful for that.

Andrew

[Kirsty Eldridge]

Hiya
Im 24, quite active and work full time and have been wearing sclerals now for about 2 years. It took me a long time to get used to them, because they feel quite bulky to start with, and even now i have bad days where i can feel them all day and they are uncomfortable BUT on a good day i cant notice they are there at all and they are more comfortable than RGPs, you dont get any dust or grit getting trapped behind them, and they dont rub on the eyelid. I would definatly recommend giving them a go and perservering with them, it was a hard slog but worth it!!
Kirsty

[Steven Williams]

I'm currently trying a "mini" scleral only for one eye so far as apparently they are hand made and cost alot more than RGPs.

Its easier to put them in once you've mastered the technique (have to keep eye surface horizontal to avoid the fluid escaping) although a bit messy and dead easy to remove with a small plunger!

The vision is good as long as the void between the eyeball is full of fluid. I find them more comfortable than RGPs and they stay in. If they drop out are easy to locate!

Problem I'm having is that my bottom lid is tight and catches the edge and if it lifts the lens slightly the fluid escapes and an air bubble appears. Vision is then better with the lens out!

Fluid leaks out with the lens after about 5 minutes so either the lens needs some fine tuning or its the full scleral next!

Are there any other links here on sclerals experience?

I think that better vision can be achieved with RGPs but after four different lenses they could not get a RGP to sit on my right eye due to the shape of the cone. Despite this I would have liked to have seen them use a keractometer readings to manufacture a RGP lens but they have done the process by trial and error and using the fluorescene.

[Anne B]

I tried the scleral lens (the mini scleral) and it was really comfortable, much more than the RGP lenses that i tried. i just couldn't get good vision with them.

Steve i had the same problem with the outer corner and lower lid of my eye rubbing on the lens, never got to the bottom of it because the vision wasn't great.
Hope you have more sucsess.

Anne

[GarethB]

Steven,

On the post regarding sclerals you may well find that some people got best vision using sclerals to correct their vision to a point and then glasses on top for the extra clarity to bring them up to decent vision.

From many of the posts I have read about the subject, scleral fitting is more involved than corneal RGP's. Probably because the scleral lens is not fitted as often as a corneal lens.

[Sarah M]

I too had a scleral lens, and found it much more comfortable to wear than RGPs, but it did nothing to help my vision. My only complaint about them, bar the fact they didnt help, was the hour early i had to get up to attempt to get in properly!

Sarah

[samba_elite]

i want to try these but have been waiting over a year now for a moorfields appointment,is there any other way of getting them?

[piper]

serge, I have a scleral in my ungrafted eye and had them for both before the surgery. Great lenses, had them fitted by a man who does a lot of them, painless, easy to manage daily and they work. For me the right worked right up till the multiple images took over again.

Advice? call your large university systems and checkk on the Low Vision Clinics and Eye Clinics.....the best of opthams, lots of intense care and AFFORDABLE.

The plunger is necessary for removal, right up till the eye gets so pointed that the lenses no longer fit, then they pop out on demand.

Check out my recent pics showing the diameter of the lens on my un-grafted eye. (search my posts in this forum) They seem HUGE at first, but fitted right you will forget you have lenses in.

Piper