Living with Keratoconus
You control your life, keratoconus does not. “We understand people react differently to the news they have Keratoconus. Lack of knowledge and support often creates fear. We recommend learning as much as you can about this condition and investigating the many options available to let you get back to your life.
While we believe it’s important to accept this diagnosis, we hope to help you realize there are many resources available to help you adapt.
Wondering why you can't just wear glasses or regular contact lenses?
During the early stages of keratoconus, standard eyeglasses or soft contact lenses can often provide patients with clear and comfortable vision.
As the corneal shape becomes increasingly irregular, the eye becomes incapable of focusing light effectively. making simple tasks like reading, watching TV or driving very difficult. The distortion caused by keratoconus has been compared to viewing a street sign through your car windshield during a rainstorm.
When the cornea becomes highly irregular, eyeglasses or soft lenses cannot adequately compensate for the irregularities, which means they do not provide effective visual correction. Keratoconus that has progressed beyond the early stages needs to be treated with alternative visual correction.
Worried about the financial burden of Keratoconus?
We understand how much of a burden Keratoconus can be, financially and emotionally. We’re here to help and we have designed our care packages with this in heart and mind.
A large portion of the lifetime cost of keratoconus care is for the specially designed contact lenses that are required to correct the distorted vision caused by keratoconus. These lenses are more costly than contact lenses for routine vision correction, so we have to expect to pay more when visiting an eye care professional who provides Keratoconus contact lens fittings. You’re paying for the time involved in the fitting process, the special expertise, the equipment required to measure and determine the lens fit and the advanced type of lenses you’ll receive.
They require special handling by yourself, and special types of supplies. They require ongoing care and monitoring, and nothing about them is cheap. Scleral lenses are not something you want to adopt casually as a minor upgrade from other contact lenses. They are an investment and commitment.
Finding support within the Keratoconus community:
“Perhaps there is no better therapy than sharing your experiences with other Keratoconus patients. The mutual sharing of common experiences is both rewarding and assuring.”
- The Global Keratoconus Foundation: An organization dedicated to research and education about keratoconus. Click Here
- Living with Keratoconus Blog and Resources-Living with Keratoconus.com Click Here
- Keratoconus Group Blog- The largest community for keratoconus online. Provides stories and experiences of keratoconus patients.Click Here
- The National Keratoconus Foundation - Provides information to patients, newsletters, seminars and supports research into keratoconus. Click Here