Keratoconus

Symptoms

Patients with keratoconus usually begin to notice symptoms in their teenage years or 20s. Mild cases often involve glare, sensitivity to light, and eye irritation. You may notice your eyeglasses prescription changing drastically as your vision continues to blur and distort. Additionally, as the cornea becomes more cone-shaped, the cornea can swell acutely due to tiny cracks. As these cracks heal over the course of weeks or months, scar tissue forms, which further affects your vision.

Treatment for Keratoconus

Currently, there is no medication available to control the progression of keratoconus. However, there are several treatment options to treat the symptoms. Your eye doctor may prescribe eye drops to treat itching, rubbing, and swelling. You may also be fitted with specialty contact lenses. Patients with keratoconus typically benefit from either gas permeable (GP) contact lenses or scleral contact lenses. GP lenses are rigid and scleral lenses are larger than average contact lenses, and these customizable lenses can hold their shape over a distorted cornea better than typical soft contact lenses. If these methods are not sufficient, or if the disease is at a more advanced level, you may require a corneal transplant to improve your vision.

Corneal Transplant Surgery for Keratoconus

A cornea transplant, also called keratoplasty or corneal grafting, is a surgery in which corneal tissue from a donor is used to replace a damaged or diseased cornea. This procedure can restore vision and relieve pain. The highly skilled cornea surgeons at Virginia Eye Consultants are experienced in corneal transplant surgery. Learn More About Corneal Transplant Surgery at Virginia Eye Consultants.