2 weeks into sclerals...

[mmc51264]

Rebecca, I have the dry eyes, but I also have astigmatism in both eyes, so the lenses really help with distance vision and I have almost NO photosensitivity wearing them, which helps b/c i have an hour drive home at night (i am a nurse, 3-22 shift)

[JoeB]

Thanks!

Thanks Rebecca and MMC for your responses. Very interesting information. It really sounds helpful. I not only have dry eye, but I am near sighted, and some people do not look as good with glasses. I've looked at pictures of people wearing sclerals, and there is an arch in the scleral that goes over the cornea, so it doesn't have to touch it. I'm pretty sensitive about people giving me looks due to my red eyes, because of the dry eye. The sclerals I saw in the picture, from a side view, it looked like it really stuck out from the eye. Have people noticed this in your experience, or not noticed it, the fact that the lens is really above the eye?

I've been wearing them for 6.5 years. Overall quite good experience. However bear in mind I am primarily a vision case, secondarily dry eye. I wear sclerals because I have to wear rigid lenses to see but can't tolerate lenses that touch my corneas. I'm definitely not a worst-case type dry eye - I am not severely aqueous deficient for example, but very, very uncomfortable without my lenses.

[JoeB]

Replacement lenses at BFS are 700$ each!! I was recently fitted and this was one of my questions as well.

Thanks Amy! Are you by any chance the same Amy who posted on dryeyezone on April 12 2005? I'm just wondering because it helps to understand the history and possible solutions to the problem.

Amy09
Scleral Lenses

Hey everyone, it's Amy. A few people suggested the scleral lenses to me from the place in Boston. I talked to my eye specialist on the phone last week and he says he wants to try botox on my eyelids first...

[Amyfloor]

No, that is not me (:

[JoeB]

No, that is not me (:

She just seemed so similar

[Max]

Hi I'm on my fifth try with Jupiter sclerals and seems like we're getting close. I have had a problem with the last lenses which build up debris and cloud my vision after only two hours wear. My first pairs were often clear and had to cleaned only every other day. Now I have two problems with the current set, the cloudy buildup and bubbles appearing under the lenses after they've been thoroughly checked and look clean. My husband uses a bright flashlight and carefully checks for bubbles.

My first Jupiters were a very pale green tint. I had a choice between a blue and a green for ease of seeing the lenses. No color appears on the eyes. These last lenses are clear; no tint. The right is worse than the left when it comes to building up a cloudy residue. I asked if they were Plasma and I was told they were. I can't figure this out. And, while I don't want to sound like I'm a complainer, the optometrist just doesn't seem to be interested in anything I have to say. It's like she's bored and seems unwilling to tell me if she has any previous experience with Jupiter lenses. She just wants me to point out how they feel and then shut the heck up.

[JoeB]

Hi Max, Interesting information. Thanks. Since these are sclerals, and I've never seen them in person except in one photograph,is the vaulting arch that goes over the cornea detectable by people you are talking to, or yourself when you look into the mirror? Like a lot of people, I'm sensitive to what others see when they are talking to me. That's why I ask. Have people noticed anything when you wear them?

Hi I'm on my fifth try with Jupiter sclerals and seems like we're getting close. I have had a problem with the last lenses which build up debris and cloud my vision after only two hours wear. My first pairs were often clear and had to cleaned only every other day. Now I have two problems with the current set, the cloudy buildup and bubbles appearing under the lenses after they've been thoroughly checked and look clean. My husband uses a bright flashlight and carefully checks for bubbles.

My first Jupiters were a very pale green tint. I had a choice between a blue and a green for ease of seeing the lenses. No color appears on the eyes. These last lenses are clear; no tint. The right is worse than the left when it comes to building up a cloudy residue. I asked if they were Plasma and I was told they were. I can't figure this out. And, while I don't want to sound like I'm a complainer, the optometrist just doesn't seem to be interested in anything I have to say. It's like she's bored and seems unwilling to tell me if she has any previous experience with Jupiter lenses. She just wants me to point out how they feel and then shut the heck up.

[Rebecca Petris]

The sclerals I saw in the picture, from a side view, it looked like it really stuck out from the eye. Have people noticed this in your experience, or not noticed it, the fact that the lens is really above the eye?

Nope. Common misconception because of some ghastly old images on Google including some that make the eyes look protuberant. I wear 18.5mm lenses. Even eye doctors I meet at industry events don't notice I'm wearing sclerals unless I tell them. Amongst all the scleral lens wearers I've talked to over the years the only cosmetic complaint I remember hearing is some people can have a slightly glassy-eyed look. (To be fair though have to keep in mind that frankly, most people who NEED sclerals need them so badly they couldn't care less about what the lenses look like.) All that is visible to most folks is the edge of the lens way out on the scleral which frankly isn't that much different from soft lenses.

[Desi]

how much of the eye do regular schlerals cover? i know the mini ones cover just the cornea and a tiny bit of the whites. Do the schlerals that you (Rebecca) have cover most of the whites?

[Max]

Hi Max, Interesting information. Thanks. Since these are sclerals, and I've never seen them in person except in one photograph,is the vaulting arch that goes over the cornea detectable by people you are talking to, or yourself when you look into the mirror? Like a lot of people, I'm sensitive to what others see when they are talking to me. That's why I ask. Have people noticed anything when you wear them?

Hi Joe:
I have poor vision but I have to say I don't notice the lenses when I look in the mirror. I do notice that my eyes seem wider - I'm not squinting due to the pain of the dry eye which is otherwise a constant problem.

After reading your question, I asked my husband if he notices the lenses. He has excellent eyesight and said "If he he didn't know they were there, he would never notice them."

When I'm wearing my Jupiter lenses at palates class, my instructor has commented that I must be having a much better day because my eyes look so much better - less red and again, my eyes are open and actually more natural looking.

I don't think you'd have anything to worry about, but the Jupiter folks are changing the depth of the area that holds the fluid next to my cornea in order to address the cloudiness I've experienced with the last set of lenses. My optometrist did not mention anything about the changes making the lenses more noticeable.

You probably read in my last post that my lenses were initially a very pale green. This was so that I could see them more easily to handle them. The new ones came back clear. My optometrist explained that they had to make the lenses larger, and if the new ones were the pale green, they would have been visible on the white of the eye. So that was explained to my satisfaction. Again, even with the larger lenses, my husband does not notice I'm wearing contacts.

My right lens in pretty much as good as I'm going to get and I literally forget I'm wearing it. It's like someone put bandages on my corneas. The pain is gone. I can wear it without problems for about ten hours. I choose not to take them out to watch TV or go to the movies because the acute dry eye is so so so much worse and I can't concentrate on the film. Bright bright light can sometimes be annoying, but outdoors I wear sunglasses anyway and when watching a film its a minor inconvenience that I feel I will ultimately adjust to completely.

[Desi]

can anyone tell me how much of the I do regular sclerels cover? I just recently got mini sclerals, and I'm still getting use them. How long does it normally take to get used of them? And is it normal that my eyes are really red and irritated afterwards? I'm only on my second day!

[Rebecca Petris]

can anyone tell me how much of the I do regular sclerels cover? I just recently got mini sclerals, and I'm still getting use them. How long does it normally take to get used of them? And is it normal that my eyes are really red and irritated afterwards? I'm only on my second day!

There's a nice little chart here on DrG's site that compares sizes of mini-scleral and smaller lenses. My understanding is that by definition a scleral lens vaults the cornea (which I think is typically around 115mm) and limbus and the edges rest on the sclera. Doctors don't all use the term mini-scleral in the same way. Personally I tend to think of sclerals as say 16-17mm and up and anything smaller as a mini scleral or intralimbal till you get down to the ones that rest entirely on the cornea. (Bear in mind that based on lens shape/design they may or may not be touching part of the cornea.) My own sclerals are 18.5.

Re: redness, no, not normal. Where are they red? I'd be talking to the doctor about what's causing it.

[Max]

can anyone tell me how much of the I do regular sclerels cover? I just recently got mini sclerals, and I'm still getting use them. How long does it normally take to get used of them? And is it normal that my eyes are really red and irritated afterwards? I'm only on my second day!

My first pair of Jupiter lenses were a poor fit and my eyes were irritated and purple. One lense was much too tight and the other was swimming all over my eye and allowing the fluid to drain out. Suffice it to say, already irritated eyes from acute dry eye responded with inflammation and irritation. I would call your doctor and get them checked ASAP.

I don't know about sizes. My optician or optometrist isn't informative and doesn't seem to like to talk. I'm starting to be more assertive and ask for more information. Plan to ask a lot of questions at next visit.

[Betsy]

Can someone please explain to me, or lead me towards a place that explains the difference between sclerals and other similar products? Like the vaulted ones mentioned? I didn't realize there were different types beyond the right size for your eye. I have always been interested in these but when I wore contacts only one type worked for me, this is before my eyes dried up, and they were soft. I worry I won't find anything comfortable.

Thanks.

[Max]

Can someone please explain to me, or lead me towards a place that explains the difference between sclerals and other similar products? Like the vaulted ones mentioned? I didn't realize there were different types beyond the right size for your eye. I have always been interested in these but when I wore contacts only one type worked for me, this is before my eyes dried up, and they were soft. I worry I won't find anything comfortable.

Thanks.

i found these using Google and there are more links. I used the Keyword Jupiter scleral lenses for dry eye


Jupiter Scleral | Visionary Optics | Innovative Contact Lens ...
http://www.visionary-optics.com/jupiter-scleral
Product information about Jupiter Scleral, the ultimate contact lens for ... and asymmetric corneas as well as provide a large tears for severe dry eye cases.

Fitting Techniques for a Scleral Lens Design - Contact Lens Spectrum
http://www.clspectrum.com/articlevie...ticleid=102474
Jan 1, 2009 – The Jupiter scleral contact lens (Medlens Innovations, Inc./Essilor) is ... secondary to severe dry eye syndrome, Stevens Johnson syndrome, ...

Today's Scleral Lens - Review of Optometry
http://www.revoptom.com/continuing_e...st/.../108308/
The recent resurgence of scleral contact lenses has significantly improved our ... more is important with scleral lenses, because they semi-seal to the eye, making tear .... Jupiter scleral lenses in the management of chronic graft versus host disease. ... P. Boston scleral lens prosthetic device for treatment of severe dry eye in ...

Jupiter Fit Guide.indd - ABBA Optical, Inc.
http://www.abbaoptical.com/images/jupiter_fit_guide.pdf
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
The Jupiter Scleral Lens falls into multiple overall diameters: 15.0mm, ... and asymmetric corneas as well as provide a large tear volume for severe dry eye cases. .... To successfully fit the Jupiter contact lens, you must meet three objectives: ...

New scleral contact lens offers hope for patients with severe corneal ...
http://www.mayoclinic.org/.../sclera...isease-opu0102...
Scleral contact lenses allow cornea subspecialists to deal more effectively ... "The patient with dry eye worries about a lens abrading the compromised ... At Mayo, Dr. Schornack began fitting scleral lenses using the Jupiter design scleral lens, ...

Hope these help

Max