RGP contacts & symptoms

Hi,

Just got a new pair of RGP boston contacts two weeks ago and I am
wondering if the symptoms I'm experiencing is normal. So far I have
gone past the blinking and it's much more confortable then the
beginning. But I'm still experiencing problems with lights. During the
day if I wear sun glasses I have very good vision and lights don't
bother me. But looking at lights (stop lights, or lamps) still creates
like cone shaped tearing of light. I don't know how to explain it but I
see the light and then some tearing of light coming upwards. During the
night while driving all lights (car lights, street lights, etc) ALL
create extra light in addition to the normal light.

I was told this is normal at the beginning but after two weeks, it
still remains and it doesn't seem to be improving. Is this normal? BTW
I have Keroconous condition.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Just got a new pair of RGP boston contacts two weeks ago and I am
> wondering if the symptoms I'm experiencing is normal. So far I have
> gone past the blinking and it's much more confortable then the
> beginning. But I'm still experiencing problems with lights. During
the
> day if I wear sun glasses I have very good vision and lights don't
> bother me. But looking at lights (stop lights, or lamps) still
creates
> like cone shaped tearing of light. I don't know how to explain it but
I
> see the light and then some tearing of light coming upwards. During
the
> night while driving all lights (car lights, street lights, etc) ALL
> create extra light in addition to the normal light.
>
> I was told this is normal at the beginning but after two weeks, it
> still remains and it doesn't seem to be improving. Is this normal?
BTW
> I have Keroconous condition.

It sounds like you are catching the edge of the optical zone of the
contact lens within the area of the pupil. Am I correct in assuming
that this fluctuates somewhat with blinking? The standard optical zone
of an RGP contact lens is on the order of 7.5 to 8.0 millimeters, with
a lens diameter of about 9.5 millimeters. It could be that your
condition (keratoconus) makes it necessary to fit a smaller lens with a
smaller optical zone, or else the lens may not be centering with
respect to your pupil. There could be other reasons as well.

DrG

Thx for the quick response. Yes blinking sometimes makes it better or
worse depending but as I wear it for like couple of hours it has little
effect. When I look at my eye it seemes it's placed too low in that the
top part of the lense is on the center of the eye.


Dr. Leukoma wrote:

> It sounds like you are catching the edge of the optical zone of the
> contact lens within the area of the pupil. Am I correct in assuming
> that this fluctuates somewhat with blinking? The standard optical
zone
> of an RGP contact lens is on the order of 7.5 to 8.0 millimeters,
with
> a lens diameter of about 9.5 millimeters. It could be that your
> condition (keratoconus) makes it necessary to fit a smaller lens with
a
> smaller optical zone, or else the lens may not be centering with
> respect to your pupil. There could be other reasons as well.
>
> DrG

That's probably because the center of your "cone" is just below center
on your cornea. The contact lens automatically wants to center on the
steepest part of your cornea.

One solution may be something called a cornea-scleral lens, in which
the outside portion of the lens rests upon the white part of the eye,
which makes for great centration.

DrG