Category Archives: keratoconus

Can Keratoconus be Treated?

Posted on May 27, 2020 | Comments Off on Can Keratoconus be Treated?

One of the first questions asked by a newly diagnosed keratoconus patient is “can keratoconus be treated”? The answer is a resounding yes. Keratoconus can be treated successfully via a number of safe and effective methods.

Contact Lenses – The Most Effective Keratoconus Treatment

Contact lenses are the most common, safest, and effective keratoconus treatment available. As Steph Curry, an NBA All-Star point guard for the Golden State Warriors, recently found out. During an interview, he commented on how his keratoconus lenses brought everything into focus.

Numerous types of contact lenses are used to treat keratoconus. RGP contact lenses, while still commonly used, are being replaced by scleral contacts as the most common and effective keratoconus treatment.

Can Keratoconus be Treated with Surgery?

Keratoconus can be treated with surgery; however, like conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, we can’t cure keratoconus with surgery.

Corneal Cross Linking

The most common surgical option for keratoconus is Corneal Cross-Linking. You may see this abbreviated as CCL or CXL. Cross-linking helps stabilize the cornea by increasing the connections between collagen fibers. In most cases, cross-linking will stop the progressive steepening of the cornea. Following cross-linking, patients often further improve their visual acuity with scleral contact lenses.

Penetrating Keratoplasty – Corneal Transplant

Corneal transplants have decreased in popularity since the FDA approved corneal cross-linking. Corneal scarring and corneal hydrops are the most common reasons for corneal transplants.

How do I Learn More About My Keratoconus Treatment Options?

We offer complementary keratoconus treatment consults with Dr. Driscoll to help patients decide which treatment option is best for them. You can schedule your free consultation online with Dr. Driscoll at either our Colleyville or Keller/Southlake Location. We can also schedule your appointment by us calling at 817.416.0333.

About Dr. Driscoll

Dr. Driscoll is a therapeutic optometrist and keratoconus specialist at Total Eye Care in Colleyville, Texas. A 1988 Graduate of the Illinois College, Dr. Driscoll has been treating patients with keratoconus for over 30 years. Following Dr. Driscoll’s Graduation from the Illinois College of Optometry, he joined the residency program at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Dr. Driscoll likes to write. He wrote An Eye Doctor Answers: Explanations To Hundreds Of The Most Common Questions Patients Wish They Had Asked, available on Amazon.com, and The Patient’s Guide to Keratoconus.

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Posted in contact lens, Cornea, keratoconus

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Scleral Contact Lenses for Keratoconus Treatment

Posted on July 9, 2019 | Comments Off on Scleral Contact Lenses for Keratoconus Treatment
Scleral Contact lens for Keratoconus Treatment

Scleral contact lenses are the keratoconus’ specialists most effective keratoconus treatment.

What is a Scleral Contact Lens?

Scleral contact lenses rest on the sclera, the white part of the eye, and vault over the cornea. Scleral contacts distribute their weight on the less sensitive sclera which makes them much more comfortable than other lenses. The vision with a scleral contact lens is also more stable than the visual acuity experienced with a gas permeable lens. In the video below Dr. Richard Driscoll, the keratoconus specialist at Total Eye Care discusses keratoconus treatment with scleral contact lenses.

Medically Necessary Contact Lenses

Many vision plans consider the treatment of keratoconus with contact lenses as medically necessary and often provide coverage. Some vision plans also call this type of coverage visually necessary contact lenses. Numerous conditions are considered covered under this provision such as:

  • Dry Eye Syndrome
  • Keratoconus
  • Pellucid Marginal Degeneration
  • High Astigmatism
  • High Refractive Error (usually about 10.00D of correction)
  • Irregular Astigmatism
  • Post Refractive Surgery
  • Post Corneal Transplant

Personalized Keratoconus Treatment Consultation

Total Eye Care offers free consultations to help patients decide which keratoconus treatment may be best for them. You can schedule a free keratoconus consultation with Dr. Driscoll by calling us at 817.416.0333. You can also schedule it online at any time.

Keratoconus Treatment Resources

We have curated some resources on keratoconus we feel every patient with keratoconus will find helpful.

Overview of Keratoconus – KeratoconusDoctors.com

What is Keratoconus, How is it Diagnosed and Treated – TotalEyeCare.com

Keratoconus Treatment Options – KeratoconusDoctors.com

Scleral Contact lenses Insertion and Removal Video – The Eye Doc Blog

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Posted in contact lens, Cornea, keratoconus

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Keratoconus Day is November 10

Posted on November 10, 2017 | Comments Off on Keratoconus Day is November 10

Keratoconus Day is November 10

Keratoconus Day November 10November 10 is National Keratoconus Day. Keratoconus is an ocular condition causing debilitating decreased vision in approximately 1 in 400 to 1 in 2000 Americans. Below is a brief overview of keratoconus. For a complete review of keratoconus, including background information, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis can be found here. Spread the word and help someone with keratoconus. 

What is Keratoconus?

Keratoconus develops when the cornea becomes progressively thinner. The cornea is made of collagen fibers. The collagen fibers in a patient with keratoconus do not have links between the fibers. This causes the collagen to be weak. Over time, the weak collagen fibers allow the cornea to become thin and progressively steeper. This change in shape causes the cornea to take on an irregular shape which is poorly corrected with glasses.

How is Keratoconus Diagnosed?

During a regular eye exam, your eye doctor will be able to tell if you have keratoconus. Corneal topography is usually used to confirm a diagnosis of keratoconus.

How is Keratoconus Treated?

Keratoconus doctors agree contact lens are the treatment of choice. Various types of contact lenses are used to treat keratoconus; however, the best success, comfort, and vision is achieved with scleral contact lenses.

Finding a Keratoconus Doctor

If you have keratoconus or know someone that does have it the Keratoconus Doctors have over 25 years of experience in treating patients with keratoconus and irregular corneas.

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Posted in Cornea, keratoconus

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Keratoconus Treatment Options – The Keratoconus Doctors Website is Live

Posted on February 19, 2017 | 2 comments

Keratoconus Treatment - Patient's Guide to KeratoconusThe Keratoconus Doctors website is now available. Over the years Total Eye Care has developed a sub-specialty in keratoconus treatment.  We now have a website dedicated to those patients.

Free Primer Available – The Patient’s Guide to Keratoconus

We also have a primer on keratoconus, “The Patient’s Guide to Keratoconus“. It answers most of the common questions patients ask and the most important things for them to know. We will continue to update it as technology and standards of care continue to evolve. Some of the items covered are

  • How is keratoconus treated
  • What are the risks/benefits of surgery vs contact lenses
  • What treatment options are available
  • When is surgery recommended

What is Keratoconus?

Keratoconus involves a progressive thinning of the cornea. It is estimated that 1 in 2000 people have keratoconus; however, some estimates are as high as 1 in 500.  In most cases, successful keratoconus treatment is accomplished with specially designed contact lenses. At Total Eye Care, we specialize in providing care to these patients.

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Posted in keratoconus, press release

Scleral Lenses – An Old Dog With New Tricks

Posted on March 9, 2013 | 9 comments

scleral lensesScleral lenses have been around for over 100 years. Until the new gas permeable lens materials were developed patients could only wear scleral lenses for a few hours a day. With the highly oxygen permeable lens materials now in use, patients can comfortably wear these lenses all day. Scleral contacts are most commonly used to treat eyes with irregular corneas such as keratoconus and post-surgical eyes (usually following corneal transplant surgery or related to complications from refractive surgery). Another common use for scleral contact lenses is in the special effects industry where they are used to protect the cornea and/or to give the eye an exotic appearance.

What Is A Scleral Lens?

Scleral contacts are large contact lenses that rest on the sclera (white part of the eye) with the remainder of the lens vaulting over the cornea. Tears are trapped between the lens and the cornea allowing scleral contacts to treat irregular corneas. Scleral contact lenses are also used to treat dry eye syndrome by preventing the cornea from drying out. The average soft contact lens has a diameter of about 14 mm whereas scleral contacts typically have a diameter exceeding 14.5 mm. The larger diameter is one of the biggest reasons why scleral contacts are so comfortable. 

How Are Scleral Lenses used?

At Total Eye Care, Dr. Driscoll has used scleral contact lenses to treat many conditions such as irregular astigmatism, keratoconus, high myopia, dry eye syndrome, and complications related to LASIK and PRK. Because of their size, sclerals are quite comfortable. Patients often report the comfort being similar to that of a soft contact lens. Most patients with irregular corneas will see better with a scleral lens than with glasses. 

Below is a good video that shows how scleral contacts are cared for and how to insert and remove them.

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Posted in contact lens, Cornea, Eye Care, keratoconus, LASIK, Refractive issues

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New Keratoconus Treatment Options for Patients

Posted on August 9, 2010 | 2 comments

Due to the fact that one of the specialties at Total Eye Care is keratoconus we see many patients with this condition.  We recently updated our patient information on keratoconus page to reflect some of the new technologies available to our patients such as;

  • Mini scleral lenses, which provide excellent vision like that of traditionally fit gas permeable lenses, however with markedly improved comfort.
  • Corneal collagen cross linking, though not yet FDA approved, is a new technology that I expect will be of a tremendous benefit to our patients.

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Posted in contact lens, Ehlers-Danlos, keratoconus

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