Hope

[kimby2007]

I went up to Boston yesterday to try out the scleral lens from Dr. Janice Cotter. The fitting went very well and we are moving on to the next phase in several weeks. It is not a miracle cure but it helps and that is a step in the right direction.

Kim

[shells]

Kim,

Good luck with the rest of the process. I hope they give you some relief!

-Shells

[bernmee]

I am glad to hear it, it is always so nice to feel you are moving forward, it makes it that little bit easier when we get that one step back.

B

[rubyslippers]

Can someone describe these? Are they in place of regular contacts and do they correct vision?

[stephgurl1986]

I'm happy for you. What was it like with the sclerals?

[kimby2007]

Sclerals

Sclerals are large RGP lenses that vault over the cornea and rest on the insensitive sclera. In my case, they are considered fluid ventalated. Inside the lens there are artifical tears which when placed on the eye hydrate the cornea. They can be made to correct vision. To me sclerals feel like normal contact lenses. I was lucky because we got a good fit for the get go. When placed on the eye I felt a nice cool feeling from the artifical tears. I opted to fill the lenses with refresh celluvisc instead of unisol because my dry eyes are very severe and I thought that the thicker the tear the better. I could feel the outside drying out though when put in situations of wind but I am told the plasma treatment (increases wettability of the outside of the lens) will help this. All in all it felt better than not having the lens in and that was what I was looking for. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

[stephgurl1986]

Do the sclerals help with the redness? I was told that these lenses only help your cornea. Mine is quite healthy but my conjunctiva is so red - are the artificial tears also around there? I need something to protect my conjunctiva.

[kimby2007]

Redness

Hi Stephgirl:

I also have healthy corneas but pain despite that. My eyes without contacts (either soft or sclerals) are pretty irritated looking. So I do believe that the sclerals did help with the overall redness. However, the scleral doesn't cover the entire eye so part of my conjunctiva remained irriated looking. Hope this helps somewhat.

Kim