Im Trying sclerals this friday

[sazy123]

Hi

i just thought i would let people know that im trying sclerals this friday at ken pullums. The face pain has gone away lately (am enoyed bout this)and im not waiting 4 it to come bk.

http://www.kenpullum.co.uk/

www.sclerals.com

I am optimistic that they will help, as my dry eye sounds very much like phillip from germanys and rebeccas.

MGD (5 secs) although i dont think as bad as his.

For anyone who is interested in them ken was very helpfull in the email i sent to him and said they are always worth trying for people who have had no success from the conventional treatments (which i havent).

£750 per scleral lense and £150 for the consultation. Not sure what follow up costs are.

I will let you know how it goes, keeping my fingures crossed that it will go well. And hopefully that they can do it in my perscription...

[stephgurl1986]

Good luck!!!

Do you know whether sclerals also help when your tear production is reduced?

How long did you wait for an appointment? I think I might see Dr. Pullum this fall....

[Guest]

I wish you well with them. I hope you finally get some relief and that they are the answer for you.

God bless and good luck with them. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Ian

[painintheeye]

all the best luck to you!!!

sazy,

i am so glad that you are seeing ken this friday. please do keep us posted on your progress.

btw, are you aqueous deficient or just MGD?

Chris C

[np1981]

sazy,

I'll be interested to see how you got on with these, please keep us updated.

Nik.

[sazy123]

Yes i will do i have MGD, not much aquaous. Always told that they look mild. But dont feel mild!

I dont know why more people dont try this option out, expect expense of course.

[sazy123]

Hi

well ive tried them, and i wish i had better news to report but..

The first set of trial ones that i tried did not feel good, But they were non oxygen.

I was more hopefull when i tried the Gas permable ones (the actual ones), and i thought they were helping with the dry eye symptoms, i had them in for about an hour. They werent uncomfortable but i could feel them in there, and really im not that sure about the comfort level. I thought only time will tell whether i will adust to them. But again i am not sure if my tear film is good enough to make them feel comfortable (normal feeling eyes), like phillip or rebecca.

This is the really off putting bit.. i was finding it really hard to put them in on my self and take them out. As i kept trying it was making my eyes sore (lids red) and i was getting worried. It was not easy! It probaly becomes easier with practice but my eyes didnt like the practice.. Rebecca or anyone can you give me any info on how you mangaged this at first? was it easy or hard? did you find your eye lids/eyes become red?

I dont have red eyes, but my inside lids are deffinately redder caused by this dry eye (how i know this is- when i have face pain my lids are pinker and look healthier), and i wonder sometimes if this is my main irratation?

I did purchase them because i thought i would adust to the comfort more the more i wore them. But im really not sure if i will..its so hard to tell at first. I am going back on tuesday to try putting them in again etc, if i dont get on with them then i will probally get most of the money back, i will just pay the cost.

Rebecca did you notice them really comfortable staight away? and did you notice the benefit in dry eye symptoms straight away?

So on the whole i thought it helped with the symptoms when i first tried them but dont know whether i would find them comfortable enough due to my crappy tear film. So currently, unless tuesday goes a whole lot better sclerals are probaly not the solution for me.

Now i have to pray that the face pain comes back...if it doesnt (god forbid)the next thing to try is temporary upper plugs (not sure about this either since i have evaporative dry eye), but since they will be only temporary it cant do any harm can it?

arrggh im so fed up of nothing dramatically helping this damm affliction! i am getting v frustrated, im feeling very depressed again..

[sazy123]

Oh the ones i tried were the big ones 23 mm. He said he would reduce them down to 21mm so its easier to put in and get out.

Rebecca: did you try different sizes or just the 18mm? if so did you find the comfort any different or any easier to take out/get in?

Also i asked about plasma treatment but aparently his manufacturers say that it only lasts about a week so is pointless, and obviously costs more. Any ideas?

[Rebecca Petris]

Oh the ones i tried were the big ones 23 mm. He said he would reduce them down to 21mm so its easier to put in and get out.

Rebecca: did you try different sizes or just the 18mm? if so did you find the comfort any different or any easier to take out/get in?

Also i asked about plasma treatment but aparently his manufacturers say that it only lasts about a week so is pointless, and obviously costs more. Any ideas?

I believe all the lenses I tried were 18.5mm.

I hope DrG will weigh in on durability of plasma treatment because that absolutely does not sound correct to me. There would indeed be little point doing an expensive treatment that does not last. If a lens is plasma treated you have to care for it differently, for example, I know BSF has people use the Lobob cleaner on treated lenses where there is a larger selection on non treated lenses.

If the plasma treatment means the difference between the lens performing on a dry eye and not performing on a dry eye (which was my personal experience) then it is worth a higher cost.

[sazy123]

Hi rebecca..

he just said thats what the manufacturers told him, that plasma treatment doesnt last, so he doesnt bother with it. Was plasma the difference in whether you could wear them or not? I dont really understand this.

Do you have any info on these questions in which i posted, i dont know if you missed them in my above post:

How did you manage putting the sclerals in and taking them out at first? i dont know if its because of my compromised tear film but i had trouble. did your eyes/lids become red and sore?


Did you notice them really comfortable staight away? and did you notice the benefit in dry eye symptoms straight away?


DrG Maybe you have any clarification to the issue of plasma treatment?


Thanks

[Rebecca Petris]

Sorry, didn't see this post at first only the one after it.

Hi

This is the really off putting bit.. i was finding it really hard to put them in on my self and take them out. As i kept trying it was making my eyes sore (lids red) and i was getting worried. It was not easy! It probaly becomes easier with practice but my eyes didnt like the practice.. Rebecca or anyone can you give me any info on how you mangaged this at first? was it easy or hard? did you find your eye lids/eyes become red?

For most people, trying to get them IN by themselves will take a lot of practice and yes your lids can become sore if they're bumping the edges a lot. The larger the lens, the harder. I haven't ever tried one of those really big ones but I am sure it would have taken some getting used to.

For myself, I had the advantage of already having worn 14.5mm Macrolenses for a couple of years. That, I am sure, made a big difference to the adjustment factor.

I would definitely give this plenty of time. But with sclerals, as with other gas perms... material, size & fit are EVERYTHING.

I'm surprised at the comments about plasma and frankly it makes no sense to me.

At the time I had my lenses fitted, plasma treatment was standard for BSLs for anyone with dry eye (remembering that the majority of people treated with BSLs have keratoconus and may or may not be dry). My own experience with treated vs. non treated was dramatic. The non treated lens fogged/blurred up quite quickly.

Rebecca did you notice them really comfortable staight away? and did you notice the benefit in dry eye symptoms straight away?

Benefit straight away, yes. But in any situation where there is discomfort you're not going to notice it right away. It's like with plugs - some people go through a hard time for several days due to the physical trauma of insertion, and that 'outshouts' any relief.

Comfort - I honestly don't remember well at this point, you might want to look back at the story I originally posted. I am sure that for awhile there must have been kind of an unusual sensation as my eyes got used to them. I don't remember them actually being uncomfortable in any way though once I had the final fit.

[Lucy]

Rebecca, my Boston Sclerals were not plasma treated for the first year I had them. They were then plasma treated on a subsequent trip to Boston. It has not made a difference in how the lens fit, feel or how I can wear them.

I wanted to say this because there are so few of us with scleral lens. It may not be the same for everyone. For me, it just did not fix the problem(s). I realize my problems may be other/more than plasma would fix, but I just didn't notice a difference.
Lucy

[sazy123]

Thanks for the replies.

i will try to wear them first for abit to gage the comfort level. Hopefully the 21 mm will be easy to get in and out.

I like the sound of 18mm better though.

[DrG]

I hope DrG will weigh in on durability of plasma treatment because that absolutely does not sound correct to me. There would indeed be little point doing an expensive treatment that does not last. If a lens is plasma treated you have to care for it differently, for example, I know BSF has people use the Lobob cleaner on treated lenses where there is a larger selection on non treated lenses.

Believe me, plasma treatment can make a huge difference, not necessarily in the comfort, but in the vision. The higher the oxygen permeability of the lens polymer, the more likely it is to repel tears. In other words, tears will bead up on the lens, as with rain on a greasy windscreen. Plasma treatment makes the surface more hydrophilic, and causes the tears to form a nice even layer over the surface. The reason I know this, is because I have done a number of before and after experiments where I had the patient try the lens on before plasma treatment, and then again afterwards. The difference can be startling.

As to the durability, I can only say this. The Menicon Z lens has been plasma treated since its inception. This is an ultra-high DK material, with the highest oxygen permeability of any contact lens material. I have never had a wetting problem with that lens, and I have used them since they were first sold in the U.S., more than a decade ago. I do know that abrasive cleaners are contraindicated, which probably means the treatment may not be permanent. But, with proper care, it should last the lifetime of the lens, or about one year. Besides, the treatment is not very expensive, and is a mere fraction of the cost of the lenses. I consider it miniscule.

In summary, I'm not so sure that the comfort issue will be helped by plasma treatment, but if the lens doesn't wet properly, the vision will not be good.

[sazy123]

I had another try today.

The right one felt ok but the left felt uncomfortable.
I wore them back in the car, and only then started to tell that my eyes are just too dry, the quality of my tears are too bad or whatever the hell is wrong with me. Its simular to wearing soft contacts (the dry/unsustainable feeeling).

So im feeling really depressed right now, as i still have no solution, ive prob just wasted £1500, and its bye bye to universtiy this year.. to top it off the guilt is bad.

I feel like i have no life lines left coz ive tried EVERYTHING to no avail. Its not even like i can wait 6 months in the hope that restasis, omega 3, compresses etc might help, coz ive already been down this road several times but to NO EVAIL.

Im 22, and this is all coz i ruined my life by wearing CONTACTS!

Sorry if this sounds depressing but thats how i feel right now.