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Keratoconus, or keratoconus, is a progressive eye disease in which the normally round cornea is thin and begins to bulge into a cone. This conical shape reflects light as it enters the eye on its way to the light-sensitive retina, distorting vision. Keratoconus can occur in one or both eyes at once, and often begins in adolescence or around your twentieth birthday. Corneal treatments include implants and surgical correction.
Symptoms and signs
As the irregularity of the cornea increases, myopia and astigmatism progress, causing additional problems with distorted and blurred vision. High sensitivity to light can also occur. Patients with keratoconus they usually feel the need to correct their lenses every time they visit an ophthalmologist.
What are the causes of keratoconus?
Recent research suggests that the tissue weakening in that part of the eye that leads to keratoconus, may be due to an enzyme imbalance. It causes that cornea becomes more susceptible to oxidative damage due to the action of compounds called free radicals, which weakens and bulges.
Risk factors for oxidative damage and tissue weakness and, consequently keratoconusinclude genetic predisposition. This also explains why keratoconus it often affects more than one member of the same family.
Keratoconus It may also be associated with excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays (including sunlight), excessive rubbing of the eyes, wearing poorly fitting contact lenses for a long time and chronic eye irritation.
To enjoy good eyesight, you can purchase a medical history and qualification tests for keratoconus treatment available on Medonet Market.
Keratoconus treatment
In the mildest form keratoconus Eyeglasses or contact lenses can be helpful, but with the progression of the disease and the increasingly irregular shape of the tissue, these ordinary methods no longer provide adequate vision correction. Treatment of the progressive keratoconus includes the following methods:
- corneal cross-linking,
- custom lenses,
- corneal implants
- keratoplasty,
- corneal transplant.
Corneal cross-linking
This procedure, also called cross corneal collagen or CXL, strengthens the horny tissue to stop the bulging of its surface.
In the case of external cross-linking of the epithelium, the covering layer the cornea it is removed to allow vitamin B-type riboflavin to penetrate the cornea, which is then activated with UV light. In the second version of the method, epithelium the cornea remains intact during treatment, but takes longer to penetrate the riboflavin the cornea. The potential benefits include a reduced risk of infection and discomfort, as well as a faster recovery. Progressive mild to moderate condition keratoconus is sometimes safely and effectively treated with a cross-linking connection the cornea and implantation of a suitable lens.
Contact lenses
The lenses replace the irregular shape keratoconus a smooth, uniform surface refracting light in a manner suitable for improving vision. Their manufacturers have launched custom soft lenses specifically designed to correct a mild to moderate form keratoconus. These lenses are custom made based on detailed measurements of the patient’s keratocone eye and may be more comfortable than transmissive or hybrid lenses. Unfortunately, their disadvantage is the high price, which affects the low availability of such solutions for the average user.
Even if we can afford them, fitting contact lenses to the eye with keratoconus is often challenging and time-consuming. Difficulty in matching sometimes resolves with the so-called piggybackingiem – a combination of two types of lenses located in one eye. A soft GP lens is placed under the hard, permeable lens, which increases the comfort of use. The most important thing in this method is to maintain adequate oxygen access to the eyeball.
One more option are scleral and semi-scleral lenses. Their large surface means that these lenses do not put any pressure on the conical surface of the eyeproviding a more comfortable fit. They are also more stable than conventional contacts that move with every blink.
Other invasive methods
Due to the progression of the disease, procedures such as cross-linking treatment, implantation of intracorneal rings, keratoplasty or corneal transplantation may be necessary.
Cross-linking keratoconus treatment is a safe procedure. It consists in removing the epithelium of the keratoconus, and then soaking the cornea in a special preparation and hardening it over the eye with a UV lamp. You can buy cross linking without leaving your home on Medonet Market. The offered service is performed in a specialized ophthalmology clinic in Lublin.
Implants are arcuate inserts that are surgically inserted into the peripheral cornea to reshape the front surface of the eye, providing a clearer image. They can be removed and replaced and the procedure takes about 10 minutes. Research is also being carried out on the use of radio waves to change the shape of the front surface of the eye. A topographic «map» created by computer imaging will help to create personalized treatment plans. Corneal transplantation can also be a remedy, however, in this case, glasses or lenses will most likely still be needed to obtain proper vision.