piggy back lenses

[sirrob]

hi all my names rob and i am new to the forum.

i have been trying to cope with my hard lenses for nearly a year now and i just cant take it, they are so irratating and painful. is the piggy back method any more comfortable. because im going out of my mind, any help is appriciated because i would love to be able to wear my lenses for a whole day

[Lynn White]

Sirrob..

piggy back lenses means a "hard" lens on top of a soft lens which indeed can be more comfortable but can compromise oxygen transmission as oxygen has to go through both lenses...

You could just try soft lenses in themselves or a different type of RGP.

I am starting to build a contact lens section on my website http://www.eioi.org/contactlenses.html so if you want ot have a look... there are quite a few lenses on there already ...

To give you more help.. let me know who supplied you with your lenses...hospital or private practice...

Lynn

[sirrob]

i have to goto southampton hospital for my lenses, they say i have to have the hard lenses as the soft lenses wont help correct my vision, but i may try the soft and hard at the same time, is there anything else i need to know when doing that

[Lynn White]

At the risk of contradicting the hospital you CAN have soft lenses that correct keratoconus... I FIT them!! Not every hospital does fit them though... if they want to know more information tell them they are made by Ultravision.

The soft lenses for keratoconus are called Kerasoft - you can also get softperms which are soft round the outside and hard in the middle and the combinations ones are simply piggyback - as the lenses used for this can vary.

Lynn[/b]

[sirrob]

thanks that sounds interesting, i will have to look into that more, i have to go back for a checkup soon, so i will see what they say.

[Sue Ingram]

Hi Lynn, Do the Kerasoft lenses correct advanced KC? SUE

[Richard Godbolt]

Hiya

I have worn contacts for over 40 years and was diagnosed with KC about 22 years ago. I have become progressively intolerant to RGP's even with rose-k's for the last 2 years.
Yesterday I wore piggy backs for the first time and, although experiencing a little discomfort, can already manage 12 hours good wearing time.

However I would like to know from anyone with experience of piggybacks whether the soft lenses can be worn any way round as they turn inside out very easily and I can't tell which side is which. Also, without a tint or prescription, do you have difficulty seeing them either on your eye or even in the storage case. I am very grateful to my CL fitter for his expertise but, as he works for the NHS,appointments take weeks to organise so I am unable to raise these queries with him for some time.

Any information or advice would be welcome from the contributors to this excellent site.....

Richard

[Richard Godbolt]

Seems I spoke too soon about my piggy backs!
Since my last post I have had increasing comfort ( and occasional vision ) problems and have a very erratic weartime. My tolerance ranges from 30 mins to up to 8 hours ( quite rare! ) and, as you may imagine,it completely controls my day to day living.
I am desperately seeking a solution ( pun IS intended! ) and wondered whether the problem is caused by the combination of solutions - 2 for each pair of lenses - and I wondered whether other contributors could give me the benefit of their experiences. Also I started taking beta blockers 2/3 months ago ( at the suggestion of my GP for a separate condition ) and one of the rare side effects is apparently dry eyes and vision problems. Is it possible this is connected?
Of course I understand the problems of others are far worse ( eg London bombings etc ) but at the moment my lens problem is all consuming for me and my understanding wife and I would be very grateful for any help or suggestions to overcome the problem.......

[Ali Akay]

Hi Richard
The concept of piggyback lenses has been around for a long time but I've personally never been keen on the idea due to the problems Lynn has previously mentioned-oxygen transmission,solution related problems,etc. However, there's renewed interest in them lately using the new generation "silicone hydrogel" soft lenses which have very high oxygen transmission.I am not sure what type of soft lens you are wearing and this could be something you could discuss with your practitioner.Silicone hydrogels should also be better with dry eyes.Probably the best solution to the solution problem (!) is to use a multipurpose soft lens solution eg Opti-Free Express for BOTH lenses.Dry eyes related to beta blockers is actually a common problem and comfort drops eg Vislube, Blink Contacts, Refresh would be worth a try. You could discuss with your GP if there are alternatives you could take.I'll also add that there are some soft lenses (apart from the ones Lynn mentioned in the past) which can work very well but, again you need to discuss it with your practitioner. Unfortunately not many practitioners fit them as they assume that they wouldn't work without actually trying them!

[Richard Godbolt]

Thanks for the reply Ali.

My present soft lenses are B & L silicon hydrogel and I have been using refresh drops and systane so dry eyes should not be the problem.
I will of course speak to my CLF when I next see him ( 5 weeks time ) In the meantime I will try your suggestion of one solution for both lenses ( the opti free express bottle says it is suitable for all soft lenses but does not mention hard lenses si I did not know it was suitable ) Today I had more success after only using saline, so maybe one solution is the solution! ( if only!!! )

Thanks again for your suggestions

Richard