How to approach treatment for keratoconus

 

 

Submitted by dvilinsk on Thu, 12/26/2019 - 20:53
Country
United States
Age
24
Gender
Male
Did you perform any surgery for the eyes?
No
Do you suffer from pre-existing illnesses in the eye?

Keratoconus. I was diagnosed with keratoconus about a year and a half ago. 

Do you suffer from any diseases in the body?
No
Do you use any eye drops?
No
Do you wear Contact lenses or Eyeglasses?

I wear glasses.

Question

 

 

Hi,

About a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with keratoconus. I could not begin treatment at that time because I was about to enter a national service program, during which it is difficult to see a doctor.That program has ended, and I want to begin dealing with this condition. But I don't know where to begin.

Should I see an optometrist or an ophthalmologist? Or do patients with this condition typically need to see both? 

Also, I desperately need to get out of my current glasses, because:

A) my right has changed, and the prescription in that eye is not correcting my vision; in fact, it is making it worse, and

B) they are bent out of shape and uncomfortable to wear. But I don't want to invest in a new pair of glasses because, as I understand it, all keratoconus patients need to wear contacts to properly correct their vision.

What do you think I should do about that?

Thanks

 

Answer

 

 

Thanks for your Question

You have to follow up with corneal Ophthalmologist who is responsible to diagnose and treat corneal diseases and conditions such as keratoconus.

There are many ways to treat keratoconus depending on the severity of your condition. Some of these treatments are corneal collagen cross linking, corneal rings and corneal graft.

Contact lens especially hard contact lenses can give you the best visual acuity comparing to eyeglasses. Some patients with keratoconus can do Epi-lasik or Photorefractive Keratectomy to correct refractive errors.

Another option for patients with keratoconus and high refractive errors is phakic intraocular lens implantation or ICL

After full evaluation of your condition, your eye doctor can decide if you are a good candidate for any of these refractive surgeries and these surgeries can only be done after keratoconus is stabilized with cross linking.