Skip to main content

Home » Advanced Services » Scleral Contact Lenses » Scleral Lenses For Visual Rehabilitation Following a Corneal Transplant

Scleral Lenses For Visual Rehabilitation 1280

Scleral Lenses For Visual Rehabilitation Following a Corneal Transplant

Tens of thousands of corneal transplants, or keratoplasty procedures, are performed every year. Several reasons explain why one would undergo keratoplasty.

  • Eye diseases or eye injuries that are left unmanaged or uncorrected
  • Severe cases of glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration or cataracts
  • Advanced stages of corneal degeneration or dystrophy

Essentially, a diseased cornea can lead to blindness without proper care from an eye doctor, and keratoplasty is meant to restore as much vision as possible. However, following the surgery, patients may experience vision problems and may require specialty contact lenses to see clearly and comfortably.

Post-Keratoplasty: Treatment & Recovery

Recovery from a corneal transplant might take up to a year, as the eye needs time to adjust to the new cornea. Many patients emerge from the surgery nearsighted or with astigmatism. Often, eye doctors will prescribe eyeglasses or specialty lenses to help with vision during this interim period that may at times have to carry on being worn after the eye has fully healed.

Visual Rehabilitation With Scleral Lenses

Keratoplasty frequently results in irregular corneal surfaces due to the transplant’s inability to fully adapt to the eye. Rigid gas permeable lenses (RGPs), hybrid contact lenses, or scleral lenses may be recommended to give a patient clear and comfortable vision without the need for additional surgery.

Scleral lenses are often the optimal choice, as the lens is designed to vault entirely over the cornea rather than rest on it. Scleral lenses allow a patient’s cornea to remain hydrated, provide clear vision, and avoid any risk of corneal scarring.

Contact Giddens Optometry to learn how scleral lenses can provide you with clear and comfortable vision following a corneal transplant.

Giddens Optometry serves patients from Georgetown, Limehouse, Acton, and Halton Hills, all throughout Ontario.

Book Online
Call Our Offices

x

a3ef93d0 34de 453f b5f4 5ffd895a5f85 (1)A Letter from Dr. Ben Giddens

Hello friends, I have retired!

I had 37 years of good fun in Georgetown and loved the gift of meeting so many warm and friendly people! I am very sorry that I didn’t have the time to chat with everyone about my exact plans, and felt guilty over that at times. It was not an easy task. If anyone wants, or needs to contact me, please send an email to my office and I will reply.

I am 66 years old and still feel like I am in good health. My wife died of cancer in 2021 but I have good friends and family and a fun life. I recently moved back to Toronto which is where I grew up as a teenager. I have an active outdoor life and have many ski trips and travel plans in front of me. Lots of interests and activities to explore with an overriding sense that I am a lucky guy. I am also a grandfather now.

I have always tried to employ staff and optometrists who have a heart. I think that is where the office is at today and I hope it continues. Everyone knows their work, and the heart matters.

Ben.