Recently, I came across a question about corneal transplantation while brushing my eyes - what is the experience of corneal transplantation? One of the answers caught my attention. I found some questions after reading the whole article. I want to share with you.
The respondent went to the optician's shop for glasses when he was in his senior year, and was told that there were some problems with his eyes, but the respondent didn't care. However, after two months, his vision declined rapidly, until the Spring Festival three or four months later, his left eye began to lose sight.
After that, the respondent wanted to go to the hospital for myopia surgery in order to join the army (he thought he was myopia), but a thunderbolt came down: he was diagnosed with keratoconus in both eyes, and his left eye needed corneal transplantation. Then he went to a famous local hospital. The conclusion is the same as above.
When things got to that point, he couldn't delay it, so he decided to transplant it. But when he learned that the donor cornea in the public hospital needed to wait for a long time, he went to a private eye hospital. Fortunately, although the donor cornea was not in stock when he went, a person who didn't do it soon gave it to him. The operation was very smooth, and the vision began to recover slowly.
The rest is to solve the problem of the right eye. He decided to perform corneal collagen cross-linking surgery for the right eye, which is called "cross-linking surgery" for short. As expected, the surgery was also successful, and the vision was slowly recovering.
It is probably his experience that resonates with many "people in the same world". This answer has received 250 likes and 403 comments. I have a look at it. Most of them are "learning from each other" of keratoconus patients. Although I am not a keratoconus patient, I also feel the helplessness after diagnosis and treatment.
Therefore, I want to share with you some knowledge about keratoconus with this answer. I hope you can use it at the critical moment. Of course, I hope you can never use it.
First question, what causes keratoconus? How can we avoid it?
In fact, the pathogenesis of keratoconus is still unclear, which may be related to genetics and environment. Clinical observation found that mechanical factors such as prolonged and intense rubbing of the eyes, eye compression caused by sleeping posture and other environmental factors may participate in the development of keratoconus.
Therefore, we should not rub our eyes frequently in our daily life, and we should intervene and correct the bad sleeping posture early. For example, many people like to lie on the table with their hands instead of pillows during lunch breaks. In the long run, the eyes and corneas can easily change shape and become keratoconus under the action of external forces. Especially the corneas of teenagers are soft and malleable. Affected by bad habits, the possibility of disease is higher.
Second, what are the signs of keratoconus? How did you find it?
The reason why the respondent's eyes finally need corneal transplantation has a lot to do with his indifference. If he had listened to the optometrist at that time, if he could pay more attention to his eyes, that would not happen. This also tells you a truth. When it comes to your own health problems, you must not take it for granted to be your own "doctor". There is a saying that is right, "go to see if you are sick".
In the early stage of keratoconus, myopia and astigmatism will appear in one or both eyes, and myopia and astigmatism in one or both eyes will gradually increase, and the astigmatism degree is often high and irregular. Therefore, friends with the above symptoms should seek medical attention in time, especially those with poor vision correction of frame glasses, eye allergy and long-term history of rubbing eyes, and history of corneal refractive surgery, and should be alert to the possibility of keratoconus.
In addition, for groups with abnormal eye rubbing habits, especially children and adolescent allergic patients, corneal tomography and biomechanical testing should be performed regularly to screen for early keratoconus.
Third, how to treat keratoconus? Can't wait for donor cornea?
The lack of donor corneas in China is universally recognized. Many eye banks are "without any harvest" all year long, let alone hospitals. So if you choose to wait for corneas in public hospitals as you did at the beginning, you may not be able to wait. Then there are only two ways: go to a private hospital or find a substitute, such as artificial cornea.
Both are good and bad. Private hospitals are good at doctors and nurses' good service attitude, but there may be hidden charges. The advantage of artificial cornea is that it doesn't need to wait, but its appearance is not very beautiful, and it needs to wear sunglasses for a long time.
Fourth, what is the corneal collagen cross-linking operation?
Corneal collagen cross-linking is a new treatment for corneal diseases such as primary or secondary keratoconus, infectious keratitis and bullous keratopathy. It uses the principle of photochemistry to increase the intensity of cornea and prevent the progression of keratopathy, and has been widely used in clinical. It can be said that if your eyes have not reached the point where you have to transplant, you can choose to do corneal cross-linking surgery.
Well, today's sharing is over! I sincerely hope that these words can help you. I wish you all a happy heart and a beautiful world with beautiful eyes.