Keratoconus

Keratoconus Treatment at Lehigh Valley Eye Care Associates

Have you ever looked through a curved glass and seen a distorted, unclear picture of the world beyond? Keratoconus can create similar problems but in your eyes themselves. This disorder, which causes the corneas to take on an irregular or cone-like shape, can seriously interfere with your vision. Fortunately, there are ways to compensate for the distortions of keratoconus. Here at Lehigh Valley Eye Care Associates, our optometry team can evaluate your condition and prescribe the right keratoconus treatment to help you get the most out of your eyesight.

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Keratoconus Symptoms and Causes

To understand how keratoconus affects vision, it's first necessary to understand the nature of refractive errors. If incoming light is refracted incorrectly by the eye, it can cause issues such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. Normally, the cornea of the eye forms a near-perfect curve that lets light pass through as it should. But in keratoconus, the cornea bulges outward, altering the way the eye refracts the light. Keratoconus symptoms include severe astigmatism and/or farsightedness, light sensitivity, diplopia (double vision), and "halos" around light sources. If the corneal tissues develop cracks or splits, your symptoms may suddenly get worse.

Why do you have keratoconus? The exact root cause is not certain, but it would seem that some people are predisposed to weak, thin corneal tissue which has trouble maintaining a normal curvature. Oxidative damage, heredity, and habitual eye-rubbing may be contributing factors. Keratoconus usually starts during young adulthood and progresses over the next couple of decades.

How Our Allentown Optometry Team Can Help

Our Allentown optometry team can diagnose keratoconus in the course of a comprehensive eye and vision exam. By measuring your corneal curvature, testing your visual acuity, and examining the front of your eyes with an instrument called a slit lamp, we can see just how any corneal abnormalities are affecting your eyesight. Depending on the severity of your condition, we can then recommend specific treatment options.

For many keratoconus sufferers, eyeglasses and contact lenses do an excellent job of correcting mild to moderate keratoconus. Soft contacts aren't necessarily effective for keratoconus, however, since they simply conform to your corneas shape. Scleral contacts, which are large enough to rest on the white of the eye, are made of rigid gas permeable materials that maintain a smooth, consistent curve, vaulting right over the corneas to correct your vision. 

Gain Control Over Your Keratoconus

Gain control over your keratoconus instead of letting it control your quality of life. Call Lehigh Valley Eye Care Associates at (610) 432-3258 for set up an eye exam and get the corrective treatment you need!

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Monday
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Tuesday
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