Keratoconus Treatment

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Keratoconus is a progressive condition that can affect your vision. Abbey Eye Care has the tools and treatments to properly diagnose and manage keratoconus, so you get the clearest vision possible.

We carry a variety of specialty contact lenses, including scleral contact lenses, that help to correct vision problems caused by keratoconus.

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What is Keratoconus?

Keratoconus is a disease that progressively changes the shape of your cornea. A healthy cornea maintains a round shape and a consistent thickness. With keratoconus, however, the cornea begins to thin and bulge out in the centre, becoming more and more cone-shaped. This changes the way the light enters the eye, causing distorted vision.

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Symptoms

Symptoms of keratoconus can include:

  • Blurred or distorted vision
  • Light sensitivity
  • Excessive glare
  • Redness and swelling of the eye
  • Inability to wear contact lenses (due to discomfort or an improper fit)
  • Ghosting or double vision
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Treatment

The treatment for keratoconus depends on how advanced the disease is and how much it affects your vision. For the most part, keratoconus is treated with contact lenses, as they help smooth the irregularities in your eye shape caused by keratoconus.

For mild or early-stage keratoconus, glasses or soft contact lenses may be enough. Keratoconus changes how light enters the eye, so we can use glasses and soft contact lenses to correct this and give you clear vision in the early stages of the disease.

Scleral contact lenses are considered specialty contact lenses. They rest on the sclera or the white of the eye, unlike traditional contact lenses, which rest on the cornea. Because scleral contact lenses rest on the sclera, they form a chamber of tears over the cornea without touching it. This chamber helps to smooth and correct irregularities in eye shape caused by keratoconus. Providing a smoother optical surface which leads to much better vision than standard glasses or soft contact lenses.

Hard or rigid gas-permeable contact lenses are harder than soft contact lenses, allowing them to correct keratoconus better. The rigidity of the lens creates an alternate surface over the cornea, similar to scleral contact lenses. The new surface gives the light a smooth interface to enter the eye, providing clearer vision.

Hybrid contact lenses are a combination of soft and rigid contact lenses. Often, the centre is a rigid lens, while the outer ring is a soft lens. The combination gives the benefits of rigid contact lenses (better vision) and the comfort of soft contact lenses. We have extensive experience with fitting hybrid lenses from Synergeyes.