my first post hi

[Derek Eyre]

Hello all, what a joy to find this site,I am 42yrs old and have had KC for about 20 yrs wearing hard lenses without success and have had many years of pain.finally, now i have Rose K lenses and they are great getting about 12 hours wear 6 days aweek.I'm interested in some posts here about useing eye drops to help.If anyone can help?
I still get agonising spasmodic eye pain and it can be awkward especially when driving.Does anyone else have the same?
also, can anyone recommend decent sunglass type?
So many questions
I'll pause for breath...
more soon
thanks

[GarethB]

Hi Derek,

e drops to get extended lens wear is definitly possible, but please be aware that what works for one can cause another problems.

I use Systane by Alcon as do other here but I also know a large number where this gives no benifit at all. Other find Blink by Amo better.

Really it is a case of ask your consultant or give the different eye drops ago. To do this takes time as you have to give them about a month as a fair trial. Unfortunatly the simplest of questions can also be the hardest to answer.

The same goes for sunglasses, many manufactures make vareous claims, but if you can afford it, I would recomend going to a high street optician and trying the vareous differnt tints and lens coatings and getting a pair made for you specific needs to wear when using your lenses.

I do appreciate the random pain you can sometimes get while driving and this can either be due to lens movement as you look in your mirrors or down to fine dust getting under the lens. The only car I have not encounterd this problem was my SAAB as it had a cabin filter, none of my others cars has and if you clean the inside of a windscreen after a weeks motoring their is all manner of crud covering it. The best way to overcome this I have found is to be careful where I aim the ehater vents.

Hope this helps.

Gareth

[Lynn White]

Hi Derek!

Gareth is right here - no-one can "recommend" anything as KC is so quirky. Take eye drops... whether you get on with them or not depends often on the ph of your tears ie how acidic or alkaline they are. The drops also have a ph value and if they don't match that of your tears to within a certain amount, they will irritate or sting or plain not just help very much. So one man's meat is another man's poison.

Systane is a very good drop if it works because it forms a fine gel when it hits the eye and therefore lasts a lot longer than other drops. But some people plain don't get on with it.

Sunglasses: polaroid ones do physically cut out glare and various others do cut out harmful UV - but beware, cheap sunglasses often don't actually cut out UV and can be damaging even if you think you are getting relief from glare. This is becasue if they are dark, then then make your pupils dilate and if they do not actively cut out harmful UV, then you are actually allowing more harmful UV into your eyes than by not wearing sunglasses at all!


There is no cheap or cheerful answer to sunspecs - to be sure you need an optician or a reputable store from which to purchase them. Even if we suggested makes here (like Ray Ban) there are a lot of fakes around, especially on places like Ebay where they can't physically check the products. So I am sorry to say, even if you find a good make and decide to buy on the internet to save money, you then can't be sure its a real product.

Go into an opticians and try out polaroid and non polaroid, wrap rounds and grey and brown ones. These will give you an idea of which colour suits you best and whether wrap round kills the glare. The only problem there is finding a reliably sunny day on which to test them!

Lynn

[GarethB]

Derek,

To solve Lynns problem of finding a sunny day, I looked in the direction of the spot lights in the opticians.

Where I live most of the opticians illuminate their premesis with these instead of normal lighting.

[Derek Eyre]

Thanks guys, I have telephoned my optician who has a range of quality specs, He suggested a Yellow/ orange lens for the sunglasses for bright sun and driving.Thanks Lynn.
today has been rough in the sun itchyness and watering so much.Does anyone rinse out their lenses during the day? does this help?
Is rubbing the eyes ok?
Thanks G for the advice on the car windscreen

[GarethB]

Derek,

When necessary I do remove my lenses, usually lunchtime and use some eye drops when I remove the lenses. I only get 30 minutes so at the end of luch I have another doe of eye drops and put the lenses back in.

Others here will irrigate their eyes with saline, others use drops like me, buit keep them in a fridge. The cold can be very soothing.

Most here will recomend avoiding eye rubbing, no link has been proved between KC and eye rubbing. If you can find something that can sooth the irritation without eye rubbing, then you are onto a winner.

Good luck with the visit to the optician.

[Lynn White]

Yes rinsing and cleanign lesnes does help... so does a cold compress help to relieve hot lids..

Do NOT rub your eyes! Its never good practice to do this and especially as people with KC have thinner corneas!!

Lynn

[Richard Godbolt]

Derek
Glad to hear the Rose-K's are helping. I switched to them 2 years ago when I could no longer tolerate ordinary lenses after over 40 year's wear.I now piggyback with them (plus soft lenses) and am pleased to say that I get very acceptable levels of comfort and vision.

Like others who have posted replies, I have found that daily drops of Systane help comfort enormously.

You mentioned an agonising pain when driving, something I used to get occasionally (
if you mean a piercing, stabbing fairly short-lived pain). I am no expert but I reckon its caused when you stare too long and the lens dries briefly on the eye ( especially in the dry atmosphere of a car inrterior and looking intently at the road ahead). At the next blink it drags the lens, abraiding the cornea and causing the pain. Solution? Try turning off the aircon which dries out your eyes, try to consciousy blink more often, find a good eye lubricant !!

Good luck

[Andrew MacLean]

Derek

Life the universe and everything; how cool is that?

Sunglasses are a constant companion for many of us. Just to add some information: I get mine from the RNIB

Andrew

[Derek Eyre]

Thanks Richard/Andrew,
the pain you described is the same,thanks for the advice, i must admit, i do have the aircon on all the time.I'll experiment.
Just about the drops, do you put them in first thing or what?
thanks
Del