Scleral Lenses Beginner...

[lallo2]

I had RK about 20 years ago, actually maybe even more. For a long time I had perfect vision but after a few years my eyes got worse than what they used to be but after the surgery my cornea probably looks like the surface of Mars so I had to start wearing RGPs. And I did and they are so very uncomfortable to me. I also live in San Francisco, a very, very, very windy city sometimes. I quickly found out that with RGPs, the wind was one of my worse enemies. Sometimes the lenses would shift and it was like you are pulling my eyeball out. Then about three weeks ago I tried SCLERAL and my vision and my level of comfort are 100% better, the only problem is that the learning curve of putting them on with no bubbles, and the fact that my eyes are getting very red at the end of the day are getting me worried. My doctor says this is my first pair, that we are going to try a few more before he gets it right.

So I would like to hear about everyone else's experiences and tips for a beginner like me. I really just want it to work.


Cheers and thanks for having me here.


L

[heyjude0701]

What kind of scleral lenses are you trying? PROSE? Jupiter? I wore PROSE lenses for about two years. They were very difficult to put in at first, but after a few weeks I got the hang of it, using the base and lighted plunger and a magnifying mirror. I needed to sit down at the table on a low chair rather than stand up; the closer my eyes were to the base, the easier it was to get them in. I often needed several tries to get them in without bubbles. It is important to overfill the lens with saline solution. After a couple of years of wearing them in comfort, they began to hurt and make my eyes red; also, it became more difficult to get them in without bubbles. The problem was that they did not fit well anymore. By this time, I was no longer living in NY and there was not a PROSE clinic near me in CA. I had been advised that a PROSE clinic would be opening at UCSF but I waited a year and they still were not seeing new patients. Eventually I decided to try Jupiter mini-scleral lenses instead. It took about three months of trial and error to get a good fit (less time than it took with the PROSE). I still use the same base and lighted plunger to put in the lenses, which I find much easier than holding the lenses in my fingers and balancing them without spilling the saline solution.