Getting Sclerals

[Alexandra]

HI!
I am very excited: I will get Sclerals soon!
I will fly to Britain as soon as I can.
It will probably cost a fortune,... so I hope they will help me.
I will sure write you how it worked for me.
Take care!

[sazy123]

Hi

can i ask why u are flying to the UK to get them? or is britain some where in the states?

How bad are your eyes to warrent you getting scleral lenses? im wondering about them for future but mine are moderate-severe.

thanks

[Rebecca Petris]

Exciting!!! Best of luck to you Alexandra for a successful and efficient fitting.

Ken Pullum at Moorfields in London fits sclerals. Remember "Phillipp from Germany"? He was fitted there.

[Alexandra]

Hi Rebecca

Thanks a lot;-)
Yep, I know Philipp. Thats why i am going there.

[sazy123]

Rebecca whats the situation with someone who has moderate-severe dry eye? im not the worst case. but im just keeping my options open.. i have been told that its more for worst cases, but just want others opinions as well.

What has ken pullen said in your case alexandra? ive read from your posts that you have mild-moderate dry eye, does he think you would be a candidate?

On his website it says:

The application of sclerals can now be considered as a feasible option for a range of visual and therapeutic conditions, and for lower grades of pathology, rather than only at a stage which would be described as end point pathology.

thanks

[Rebecca Petris]

I do not have very severe dry eye (I'm not badly aqueous deficient like a lot of people here).

There's really two sides to the coin here:

On the one hand people with very severe dry eye are going to be the most motivated to pursue this kind of treatment, put up with the inconvenience/unfamiliarity etc.

On the other hand, arguably sclerals have better potential for success on moderate versus severe dry eye - bearing in mind that they were designed to treat keratoconus, not dry eye! The cornea side of the equation is a slam dunk: you're holding a liquid bandage on the eye. But when the eye is very dry, the interface where the topside of the lens meets the eyelid is problematic. All lenses need tears (real or artificial) to work. So someone with extremely dry eyes may face challenges with making sclerals work - that's where the lubricating solution they use may be very important, and some may need to remove and refill the sclerals regularly. Additionally, some people's dry eye condition is secondary to eyelid conditions - palsy, lagophthalmos, eyelids damaged by surgery, etc. all of which present their own issues.

So in a nutshell, sclerals are not only, nor even predominantly, for very severe dry eye. Suitability has to be determined by a variety of factors, including the degree of quality-of-life impact / disability.

[Alexandra]

Hi Sazy

Don't worry!
I wrote the Doc that I have mild to moderate dry eye from MGD.
I do actually have normal watery layer --> thats what my doc told me....

And he told me that I should come to England and get Sclerals.
You know, in Boston I guess it's more hard if you do not have severe dry eye I guess because they are a foundation.....but in England as far as I know we have to pay full price. So I guess they are more like a "capitalist" (not meant nervative!!!!) company and they will fit Sclerals to who ever wants/pays them I guess.....That's how I understood the Doctor. But why dont you write him an email, thats what I did. He wrote back very fast and very friendly!!!!

So give it a try!!!!! Good luck!!!!!

[Helen26]

Alexandra / Sazy

What is the website address for Ken Pullum at Moorfields. I've just done a search but can't find anything on him.

I would certainly like to find out more about scerals, although whether I can afford them is another matter! I have severe dry eyes (schirmer score of 0 in both eyes and a TBUT of 1-2 seconds) so I'm looking into all options at the moment.