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To find out more about keratoconus, and whether you are a candidate for SynergEyes® hybrid contact lenses, simply locate a SynergEyes eye care practitioner in your area today.

About Keratoconus Eye Disease and Our Hybrid Contact Lens

Keratoconus is an eye disease that can significantly interfere with vision and affect one’s quality of life. For those suffering from keratoconus, the SynergEyes® hybrid contact lenses provides the comfort of a soft contact lens, and the visual clarity of a "hard" or rigid gas permeable lens.

Learn more about the SynergEyes® hybrid contact lenses.

It is important to remember that only an eye care practitioner can diagnose keratoconus. If you would like to learn more about keratoconus, or find out if you are a candidate for SynergEyes® hybrid contact lenses, locate a SynergEyes eye care practitioner, today.

For further keratoconus support, you may visit the websites of the National Keratoconus Foundation and the Global Keratoconus Foundation.

What Is Keratoconus?

Keratoconus is a degenerative eye disease that causes the cornea to thin and bulge, creating a cone-like shape. Because the cornea is responsible for refracting most of the light that comes into the eye, any abnormality of the cornea can result in significant visual impairment.

What Causes Keratoconus?

The exact cause of keratoconus is not known; however, there are many theories on what may trigger this disease. It is important to note that no one theory provides a complete explanation, and it is likely that keratoconus is caused by a combination of things.

It is believed that genetics, the environment, and the endocrine system all play a role in keratoconus:

  • Genetics: Although keratoconus sometimes affects more than one member of the same family, current research indicates that there is less than a one in ten chance that a blood relative of a keratoconic patient will have keratoconus. 
  • Environmental Factors: Keratoconus may also be associated with overexposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun, excessive eye rubbing, a history of poorly fit contact lenses and chronic eye irritation.
  • Endocrine System: Another hypothesis is that the endocrine system (which dictates the release of hormones) may be involved, since keratoconus is often first diagnosed in adolescence.

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Who Does Keratoconus Affect?

Keratoconus most often appears in a person's late teenage years; although it has been diagnosed in people in their forties and fifties. The eye disease has been estimated to occur in roughly one out of every 2,000 people in the general population. No significant geographical, gender, ethnic, or social pattern has been established, and keratoconus occurs in all parts of the world.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Keratoconus?

Blurred and distorted vision and frequent eyeglass prescription changes are the first signs of keratoconus. However, blurred and distorted vision occurs as a result of many other types of eye disease, so it is important to visit an experienced eye care practitioner for diagnosis. Other symptoms of keratoconus include:

  • Increased light sensitivity
  • Difficultly driving at night
  • Halo's and ghosting (especially at night)
  • Eye strain
  • Headaches and general eye pain
  • Eye irritation and excessive eye rubbing

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How Is Keratoconus Treated?

Soft Contact Lenses

In its mildest form, keratoconus may be treated with soft contact lenses. However, as keratoconus becomes more advanced, success with soft lenses becomes very limited. This is because the soft lens drapes over the irregular corneal surface causing the front surface of the lens to assume the same irregular shape as the cornea. This abnormal shape is the reason for the blurred and distorted vision.

Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Lenses

RGP lenses are made from a rigid material that does not drape over the irregularly shaped cornea, but rather, holds its shape and creates a layer of tears between the cornea and the back surface of the lens to neutralize the irregular shape of the cornea. Consequently, RGPs provide better vision than soft lenses, but they are often uncomfortable, inconvenient, and center poorly. Rigid lens wearers also experience the irritation of debris collecting under the lens, and rigid lenses move when you blink and may dislodge during activity.

Piggyback Lenses

Many practitioners will “piggyback” RGP lenses over soft lenses to provide improved comfort and increased wear time. This approach may be more successful than soft or RGP lenses alone, but because of the complexities of handling and care, possible eye health problems, and centrationdifficulty, success rates are still marginal.

SynergEyes Hybrid Contact Lenses

SynergEyes hybrid contact lenses are the latest in contact lens technologyfor keratoconus. SynergEyes utilizes revolutionary hybrid technology to combine the crisp vision of a high-oxygen RGP lens with the all-day comfort and convenience of a soft lens. No other contact lens available today can provide all of these benefits in a single product.

Ready to try SynergEyes hybrid contact lenses?

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Living with Keratoconus

Once you have been diagnosed with keratoconus, it is important to accept the eye disease as a fact of life; however, there are a number of ways to adapt to keratoconus while maintaining the most consistent and clear vision possible. Through continuous communication with your eye care practitioner, you will better understand your condition, which often leads to a greater sense of well being for many keratoconus patients. Products like SynergEyes hybrid contact lenses offer revolutionary benefits that go beyond using an RGP or soft contact lens. With SynergEyes you can have the best of both worlds.

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