Boston Scleral Lens

[twist]

Has anyone ever heard of this or had any experience with it? I tried to get on their patient list a few years ago but had no luck. They were not using it for dry eye patients at the time. It is used extensively for stevens johnson syndrome patients but seems to have great potential for extreme dry eye suffers. It is now covered by some insurance companies as well. It is a large contact lens that covers the entire eye and rests on a liquid film.

I have been following it since it's incepton and hoping that it might be the ticket for me and others with sever dry eyes....but no luck yet.

Any input from others???

[Lucy]

Yes

I have Boston Scleral Lens just recently. It's after 6 years of severe dry eye after lasik, one year post op botched cataract surgery. The cataract surgery exaserbated the dry eye in that eye, which was my "Goober" eye to begin with. The cataract surgery (wrong iol calculation) also put me into anisometriaopia because of the 4 diopter difference in eyes.

As for it being "the ticket" for you and others, I dunno! I was at the very end of my options. A corneal transplant would have been next, but that wouldn't have helped my dry eyes.

As for insurance coverage, I had to actually be evaluated and get the lens before my insurance would even consider it. In other words, I took a BIG risk that I'd have the $8,000 tab handed to me. Fortunately, this was not the case. The Boston Clinic is very fair and does have funding available it you meet certain requirements.

I had two trips from Michigan to Boston and expenses related to this as my out of pocket expenses. This was more than a couple of thousand dollars. You must be referred to the clinic by your physician to be eligible to be evaluated. The lens has been good for me thus far. My pain level has decreased very much. I have trigeminal neuralgia which is more than ordinary dry eye pain. The TN pain has been helped. I have further complications with cataracts, etc. My vision is improved also. The lens on my Goober eye is wearable only a few hours and I have to remove it. I'd be glad to answer anything else I can by email.

At the cost of the lens and distance travelled, I doubt this will be "the ticket" for run of the mill dry eyes.

Lucy

[kurt]

There is a doctor, Janis Cotter, in Revere MA ( which is fifteen minutes from Boston's Logan airport) who also fits scleral lenses. She was at the Boston Foundation for Sight for ten years working with Dr. Rosenthal, and now is in private practice.