Keratoconus

I have struggled with Keratoconus since I was diagnosed with it as a teenager. I remember trying to cope at school and all the extra stress my condition caused. A lack of depth perception made me appear clumsy as I was always tripping or miscalculating my reach.

I could no longer enjoy reading, driving, and some of my favorite sports in the same way as before. It affected my self-esteem in general and posed that much more of a challenge in high school. In between all that, random eye pain, dry eyes, and photosensitivity were constant companions of mine. Because this degenerative eye disease is also progressive, I also face the possibility of eventually needing a corneal transplant.

The eye condition causes a deformation of the eye from structural changes that take place in the cornea. The result is a conical curve that distorts vision and causes sensitivity to light. Other than a really strange looking eyeball, Keratoconus causes dry eyes, eye, pain, a lack of depth perception, impaired vision, and photosensitivity. The condition is managed with corrective lenses like hard scleral contact lenses.

Various corrective lenses can help. Scleral contact lenses are designed to keep fluid in between the eye and the lens to become part of the lens system and even out the irregularities on the surface. This allows light to focus in order to correct vision. But these hard lenses are very difficult to fit correctly and mine have always been uncomfortable. At times it seemed the hard scleral lenses were not worth the discomfort.

A lot of people don’t understand the challenges of Keratoconus. The daily struggles seem small so that it doesn’t seem like a condition that would greatly impair the quality of life. But constant dry eyes, pain, and photosensitivity make something as simple as getting through an episode of The Office a challenge. Checking Facebook, Skyping with friends, and going to the movies can be torture.

Then I heard about intacs corneal implants in Khanna Vision Institute in Beverly Hills. Corrective lenses just were not working for me anymore. Intacs seemed to be the ideal solution. The implants, I learned, were designed to stabilize the cornea and improve the condition of Keratoconus. Best of all, intacs corneal implants could also eliminate the need for a future corneal transplant.

The Khanna Vision Institute was able to fit me with intacs implants and my life has changed for the better. They helped correct the nearsightedness and astigmatism associated with my Keratoconus to relieve the stress my eyes were under. I can now enjoy the simple things that used to be so difficult. Thanks to Khanna Vision Institute and intacs, my self-confidence has increased and I no longer dread lengthy social activities.