r/Keratoconus • u/W35TYO • 2d ago
Contact Lens Can you go back?
I've worn contacts since a was 21 years old, got mini sclerals when I was 25, I'm 41 now and I haven't gone 1 day without wearing lenses. I noticed when I first worn contact lenses after taking them out my vision was worse, I asked my eye doctor about it and they said it will be like that wearing lenses, my vision will be worse without them. My question is has anyone thats been a long term contact lenses wearer experienced this, and if you stop wearing lenses does the vision get better? And if so how long does it take to get better without the lenses, I am curious.
3
u/bolteyegroup 1d ago
Short answer: wearing lenses usually isn't what made your vision without them worse, though there is one exception worth knowing about.
- A short blur right after you take lenses out is common. Even sclerals can slightly change the front of the eye over a day of wear, and that settles within minutes to hours. Older-style rigid lenses that sat right on the cornea could cause a bigger change that took days or weeks to fade.
- A big change over 20 years, from walking around fine to holding things 2 inches away, is much more often the keratoconus itself getting worse. Keratoconus often keeps changing through the 20s and 30s. Lenses hide that change because they correct the irregular cornea so well, so you only notice it when they come out.
- Going without lenses for a while generally won't bring back your old vision if the cornea has become steeper. With more advanced keratoconus, glasses often can't give clear vision either, which is why lenses matter so much.
The best way to answer this for your eyes is to ask your eye doctor to compare your corneal topography (maps of the cornea's shape) over the years. That shows whether it's still changing. If it is, ask whether cross-linking makes sense for you. If it's stable, you can relax knowing the lenses are just doing their job.
If you ever want to take a break from lenses to see what your eyes do, talk to your fitter first so they can measure your eyes before and after.
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u/Single_Habit_5765 1d ago
I have been a long time wearer of mini sclerals. Over time my vision after removing them actually got worse. Finally after wearing them for 24 years, I became sensitive to the lenses. I have just been fitted with the larger scleral lenses. These are way more comfortable for me and I am able to wear them for 16 hours. However my vision without the lenses is poor. I wish I switched to the larger lenses earlier.
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u/snake_jaguar 1d ago
Genetics are stronger then whatever non existent long term effect you think the lense can have on fixing the shape of your cornea😭
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u/costaman1316 1d ago
Hard contacts change the structure of the eye, but only temporarily within 48 to 72 hours it goes back to its normal baseline however bad that maybe there is no permanent changes to the curvature or any part of the cornea due to Contacts
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u/MrJesusAtWork rgp lens 1d ago
It neither get better or worse.
Due to some unfortunate events I had to use glasses all year this year and couldn't get a new pair of lenses and life has just been awful. When I am outside I stumble on every little uneven path because my depth of field is not good with glasses
If you ask me yeah, I did get used to it is but it always on the back of my mind that I cannot fully see things and I don't have the confidence to drive unless my vision is on its best day ever and the day is super clear or something like that
1
u/MidnightElfinTv 2d ago
My vision is a little worse right after I take them off for a bit, but I was basically blind before I started wearing the schlerals anyway.
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u/kane_1371 2d ago
Your brain has been wired to see the way lenses corrected your vision, without it your brain is struggling. It will adapt to the best of its abilities but how much better it gets depends on how bad your vision is without them
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u/NickF8 23h ago
Nope but I find that RGPs were worse than sclerals post removal..