Keratoconus Treatment

Keratoconus is a condition where the cornea becomes thin and stretched near its center, causing it to bulge forward into conical shape.

It leads to significant vision impairment. With advancement in technology it has now become possible to detect and stop its progression at a very early stage.

This condition is commonly seen as 1 in 1000 people and usually starts in adolescence and early adulthood.

Mostly appearing in a single eye, Keratoconus is a disease with an unknown cause and its progression after diagnosis cannot be predicted.

It is generally seen among people who are affected with allergies or those who rub their eyes frequently.

Ignoring the treatment, can lead to the difficulty in driving a car or reading a normal print. Further, progression of the disease may also lead to the requirement of a surgery.

However, Keratoconus can be successfully managed with a variety of clinical and surgical techniques and most often with little or no impairment to the lifestyle of a patient.

In the early stage, the symptoms of Keratoconus may
not be apparently seen apart from just the requirement to wear spectacles for correction. However, as the disease makes progress, vision deteriorates.

Not only visual acuity becomes impared from all distances, but night vision also becomes quite poor. The degree of vision in one eye than the other may be significantly less or more. Some develop photophobia, eye strain from squinting in order to read or sometimes itching in the eye. But there is usually very little or no sensation of pain. Keratoconus can cause substantial distortion in vision, with multiple images, streaking and sensitivity to light.

Initially, we will suggest you contact lenses in the early stages of keratoconus and spectacles can be sufficient to correct minor astigmatism.But as the condition progresses, spectacles may no longer provide you satisfaction and you may be asked to use special type of contact lenses under the prescription of our doctors.

There’s also a new non-surgical, non-invasive treatment based on collagen cross linking with Ultraviolet A (UVA,365nm) and riboflavin (Vitamin B2), a photosensitizing agent is now available. This changes the intrinsic biomechanical properties of the cornea. It increases its strength by nearly 300%. As a result, corneal strength is increased and it arrests the progression of keratoconus.

The non-invasive treatment C3-R Eye Surgery is proven to strengthen the weak corneal structure in keratoconus.

This method works effectively by increasing collagen cross-linking, which are the natural “anchors” within the cornea. This actually helps in preventing the cornea from bulging.