hi,


i'm just trying to get moving in the right direction here. i have glare, halos, etc. which is especially annoying when viewing visual media such as movies, tv, etc (pretty much ruins it). whenever i see/hear an ad for a new "high definition, LCD TV" at first a chuckle a bit, then i get depressed.

no problem with acuity- 20/20 L, 20/15 R just that damn glare. no double-images. do not have de-centered ablation. had stone age(lol), non-wavefront lasik. what type of contacts might help me?

also- can opaque colored contacts with a small hole help for big pupils(mine often get big)? i was thinking maybe i should try colored contacts with RGPS "piggy-backed" on type to kill both evils. any doctors have any thoughts?

i have learned in life that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself to one extent or another and that you cannot give up. i am not going to give up- i am going to fight this thing.


THANKS.

-helmit

Hello Helmit,

Here are the standard questions we always ask before trying to help:

How long ago did you have LASIK?
What was your pre-op lens prescription?
What is your current presctiption? (you already answered that one)

Why would you start with piggybacking soft & RGP lenses? You would have to deal with two sets of cleaning/soaking solutions, two sets of lens containers, and have endless opportunuties to get them mixed up . . . Plus, you need to consider oxygen permeability. I am no expert, but it seems to me you would get no better permeability than what the soft lens gives. RGP materials typically give much better permeability, which leads to better comfort and general eye health. Also, RGP comfort, especially with custom lenses, can be very, very good. I have WAVE RGPS and I find them more comfortable than soft lenses, for my circumstances.

(I need correction about -4, with "normal" astigmatism, and I have irregular corneas which cause verious higher order aberrations including glare, flares & multiple images. (Glare, flares, haloes, ghosts & multiple images due to corneal irregularities are generally called higher order aberrations, or HOAs.) My WAVE RGPs correct over 95% of all this, giving me back my night vision as well as clear, crisp daytime vision and better oxygen permeability than soft lenses.)

Your pinhole lens idea should be relatively easy to try out: get yourself a piece of opaque material and drill a pinhole in it. If it improves you movie viewing, it may be worth pursuing. But, I bet it will require custom lenses as I doubt there are any off-the-shelf lenses made this way. Also, I suspect the vision you would get from these would not be very satisfactory.

RGPs like my WAVE lenses seem to make this idea unnecessary. By creating a "perfect" front lens surface in front of your tear layer, RGP lenses tend to eliminate (or at least greatly reduce) HOAs in daytime vision. HOAs in night vision tend to be reduced also, but may not go away completely if the optical zone of the lenses is too small. My OD was able to enlarge the OZ in my lenses, which greatly improved my vision in dim and dark settings.

If you want to check out custom RGPs, one source is:
www.wavecontactlenses.com
For help in locating an OD who uses the system, you can try:
www.visionrestored.com

Good luck,

Lynne

thank you for the info and for your time!


-h

GP lenses are the best way to go, although you may find that something like Definition AC soft lenses will work for low scripts.

Go see an OD who knows a little about CL fitting and do some trials.

Jon,

Helmit's subscription lapsed two weeks ago. He was a member since June but these were his only two posts.

RGPs generally reduce the bulk of halos and glare and improve contrast sensitivity. The kickers are (1) the relative dryness and tear volume a patient has and (2) the ability of your practitioner to achieve a successful design. These two are not mutually exlusive. A lot of design issues are blamed on low tear volume when the problem is, in fact, the design. On the other hand, if a patient with dry eyes has cautery or punctal occlusion, an actual excess tear volume can result which will adversely affect RGP performance.