Treatment Options For Keratoconus Patients
Treatments to impede progression and improve vision depend on the disease’s stage:
Standard lenses and glasses
Regular contact lenses are suitable for moderate keratoconus. Soft lenses provide comfort but are unsuitable as the condition advances.
Special contact lenses
Advanced keratoconus may require specialized contact lenses. These include:
Scleral lenses
Generally speaking scleral lenses are considered the gold standard for improving both vision and comfort for patients with keratoconus. They are also specially designed hard contact lenses that use a topographical map of your cornea to design the lenses which leads to improved comfort and vision. These lenses are larger than standard hard contact lenses. They sit on the white part of the eye. As a result, it will vault over the cone and won't touch the cornea, this vaulted design creates a new lens, replacing the scarred and misshapen keratoconic lens, while also reducing discomfort that is the result from a lens coming in contact with a scarred cornea. The scleral lenses are filled with a fluid before being placed on the eye. Thus, the fluid layer can eliminate distortions that are caused by the irregular cornea. Therefore, by creating a new surface on the front part of your eye, the goal is to improve your vision.
Soft toric contact lenses
These lenses are specially designed for patients with early stages of keratoconus, however they generally are not considered a good solution for someone who has corneal irregularities that are impacting their vision and comfort.
Piggyback lenses
They are another option for treatment. They work in the same way as rigid gas permeable lenses. The purpose of these lenses is to improve your comfort while wearing them. A soft contact lens may be placed first, and a hard contact lens may then be placed over it to make them more comfortable.
Hybrid lenses
These combine the comfort of soft lenses with gas permeability.
Gas permeable lenses
Lenses designed to allow oxygen flow to the eye.
INTACS
Intracorneal ring segments are another treatment option. In this procedure, plastic rings are placed into your cornea, causing the cornea to become more plateaued so it does not protrude as much. The goal is to smooth out the cone of the keratoconic eye, oftentimes leading to improved vision and reduced discomfort.
Cross-linking
One treatment option that may help slow down the progression of keratoconus is corneal cross-linking. It involves the use of riboflavin and UV light by an eye surgeon, with the goal of stiffening collagen fibres and strengthening them, and activating the cells on your eye's surface, which will straighten them in order to slow down the progression of keratoconus. Although this treatment option only slows keratoconus' progression, it does not actually improve vision.
Corneal transplant
This is a medical operation for advanced keratoconus where damaged tissue is replaced with donor tissue. Contacts are often necessary post-surgery to aid in improving vision.