New Scleral Lens Wearer

[Hopeful2]

I am not sure I know of any solutions to your problems. . . I have heard that some people do have an issue with clouding.

Have you considered:
-eye drops clouding up the surface of the lens?
-are your lenses plasma coated? . . . this might make a difference
-have you contacted the lens fitters in Pittsburgh to get their suggestions?
-would rinsing your lenses while in your eyes with saline help?

I am happy to hear that the scleral lenses offer you some relief from the painful burning effects of dry eyes.

Best of luck to you.

[shanku]

I experienced clouding with the Boston lenses on my left eye during the fitting process and couple of weeks afterwards. The doctors who fitted me at BFS said that it is because my left eye is in inflamed state from traumas and severe dryness it experienced in the past. It seems the eye is generating debris and that is getting inside the lense. They tried their best to tighten that lense so that debris can be kept out but they can not tighten it too much as that will harm the cornea. I tried the saline squizee (rinsing) with Q-Tip but that did not help.

Also, they gave me Alrex drops to use to reduce the inflammation but I stopped using it after couple of weeks as it is not safe for a long time. Luckily after around 5 weeks of wearing, the clouding stopped happening on a regular basis. But that left eye is still inflamed and once in a while it still gets clouded. If that happens, as you said, you have no choice but to replace the solution. BFS docs said that with wearing of the lenses for a while the eye environment will improve and that in turn is expected to reduce these issues after a while.

Now the problem I experience is that -

My both eyes feel drier with the lenses on...so, have to keep using eye drops on top of it - every 0.5 hour or so. does anyone else experience that? or is it usually expected with any contact lenses? Can it happen when the fit is less than ideal? Recently, one day I wasn't not able do the eye drops diligently and later that evening my vision became blurry as the cornea probably got dried up. Using frequent wetting drops for next couple of days improved the vision.

Again on left eye - lower lid looks more retracted with the sclerals - although doctor told me not to worry, I think that prevents me from having a complete blinking which is necessary.

[lulubelle]

Hi green eyes2, I have been wearing schleral for approximately 2 months. My main difficulty is when removing them. You mentioned above that when you remove yours, your eyes feel soothed for a few hours after and again for a bit in the morning. I believe I may be removing them wrong because it literally feels like I'm pulling a layer off with the lense and then I immediately have to place Celluvisc in and close my eyes and go to sleep and there are some nights my eyes continue to burn while laying and trying to fall asleep. Please let me know what your techniques are to remove your lenses. Any additional information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!!

[Hopeforothers]

lulubelle, I have been wearing my Scleral Lens for 3 months now. A problem I was having when removing mine was my eye lid would close down on it when I took it out and it would scratch my cornea. My eye would burn for the rest of the night. Now I have
learned to hold my upper lid open to keep it from closing when removing them and now I never have a problem with them. Also, there are helpful YouTube videos to show you how to remove without pulling on your eye. I hope this helps!

Love my Sclerals!

[alb1967]

Hi green eyes2, I have been wearing schleral for approximately 2 months. My main difficulty is when removing them. You mentioned above that when you remove yours, your eyes feel soothed for a few hours after and again for a bit in the morning. I believe I may be removing them wrong because it literally feels like I'm pulling a layer off with the lense and then I immediately have to place Celluvisc in and close my eyes and go to sleep and there are some nights my eyes continue to burn while laying and trying to fall asleep. Please let me know what your techniques are to remove your lenses. Any additional information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!!

It sounds like you are not removing the lens in the correct place. To high will cuase you not to be able to break the suction. I have done this before and it hurts. Make sure you are placing the plunger at 6 o'clock. Anything higher will cause the suction not to break. Try this and see it it helps

[lulubelle]

Thank you Hopeforothers and alb1967. I took both of your comments/advice and I'm happy to report success with removing my schlerals with very little if no discomfort!! I have a couple other questions for you. I do experience my right lense clouding after 4/5 hours of wearing. This does not happen in the left eye though. The Dr that fitted me for them told me to stop using the Boston conditioning solution and to just rinse them with saline solution when removing from the peroxi clear that they soak in over night. This has not helped?? Also, I was wondering if you all use any preservative free drops in your eyes while wearing the lenses or will this cause blurring?? Again, thank you for all your advice!!

[Hopeforothers]

Lulubelle, The only thing I use with my lens in is the saline solution only because I don't want to damage them. I find that when I drop them in if I lay back and lift my eye lid so it doesn't wash away the solution that it helps lubricate them better. I will ask Dr. Boshnick if I can use anything else. I leave mine in saline overnight and clean them once a week with the boston cleaner I just went back for my check up and I told him I was having a problem with feeling like I couldn't clear my lens from being foggy. He gave me PROGENT Cleaning for Rigid Gas Permeable contacts. It is 7 treatments and it removes deposits that collect on your lens. I used it immediately and they were like brand new. Hope this helps.

[alb1967]

Lulubelle yes my lens become cloudy after 5 or 6 hours of lens wear. I just take them out and refill the solution. My Dr said it is tear debrea from out eyes being dry. I also use PF drops over my lens (esp here lately because my eyes have become so dry). I have used several and they do blur them for a minute or two. I have read people use Refresh Plus (that is what Boston Foundation for Sight recommends but I have not tried those yet. I store mine in Clear Care every night and 3 times week I also clean them with LoBob ESC. You have to store the lenses in the Clear Care for 6 hrs then you can take them out and put in your eye, but I usually rinse with saline first. Good luck!

[L8rgator]

Make sure you are adding a few drops of saline before removing your lens. It helps loosen the suction.

Cloudiness is often related to fit. Having said that, my eyes get goopy when I have a bad allergy attack or I use boston conditioning solution so I could see allergies being another cause of cloudiness. To avoid problems now I follow a pretty strict routine for myself (and I try not to be lazy about it, but sometimes I am) and it works for me.
1. I use clear care - I rub very very gently in it and then store for 6 hours.
2. I rinse out my eye in the shower good with saline. I air tight bandage it overnight, so it needs a good cleaning by morning.
3. I gently scrub the outside of my eye with baby shampoo to get rid of oils on my lashes (I got 3 styes since wearing sclerals, all before I started washing this way)
4. I fill the lens with unisol 4 saline (my doctor said don't use other brands of eye saline)
5. I use Blink contact drops over it. they have a preservative, but it's very mild. And no oils to make things goopy (other solutions do for me)
I don't use any conditioner or other solutions on it daily. I do also use lobob maybe once a month to scrub off any lingering deposits, but the clear care does a really good job of that by itself.

I take my lens out at the outside corner (so 3/9 o'clock), but I think the important part is just getting as far from the center as possible. And holding your eye open, just like you do when you insert the lens. I am lazy about that part and do end up scratching my eye about once a month because I don't properly hold my eye open.