Optician Can't Help!

[bex2323]

Ok, I will try and condense this story as much as possible! I am a 27 yr old female and a couple of months ago I found the vision in my left eye was a bit blurry and since I was due for a checkup thought I thought all I needed was a lens change. Got new lens but left eye still blurry. Turns out on doing the fluorescein test that I had staining over the surface of the cornea, infringing on the pupil (no idea what the cause is as I have no other symptoms at all) and that could be the reason why they couldnt make my left eye clear on doing my refraction test. Told to leave out contacts until cleared up, then get another refraction test. Couple weeks later staining all gone, got another refraction test with new left lens. Again new left lens still not clear as right lens (still not wearing contacts at this point so thats not the cause of it). So for the past month I have had numerous refraction tests with different prescriptions for the left lens and all still blurry. I have found that with each new lens I have that always turns out to be blurry, if I tilt my glasses, or at one point looked out of the right lens with my left eye, my vision goes clear. This happened with and without the staining (staining has returned a bit now I was told I could wear lenses again).

I was then refrerred to the eye hospital, everything like retina etc checked out and fine. Diabetes check and thyroid check also fine. Told to leave me contacts out for a couple of months completly again and see if that helps my leaving them out for longer. However, even now with staining that I have on my eye, if I tilt my glasses down, so the arms come up from behindmy ears, the vision in my left lens becomes clear. Everything I have read about tilting glasses seems to indicate wrong prescription but with every new prescription I have, its always blurry but then clear if I tilt or move my glasses! It is so frustrating! My prescriptions for left lens so far are:

-2.75  -0.50  55
-3.00  -0.25  45
-3.25  -0.75  135
-2.25  -0.50  90
-2.25  -0.25  65
-2.00  -0.75   95

Weirdly optician changed my right lens to -2.00 -0.75 80 and I found this was blurry so got him to put my old one back in (I kept this wrong right lens) and the right went back to normal. However, when my glasses are on and I look out my left eye which is blurry, if I take them off and get that loose right lens of -2.00 -0.75 80 and hold it up to my left eye, my vision in the left becomes clear, even thought in the left eye in my glasses its practically the same prescription except for a 15 degree change on the axis.

My optician is stumped, the eye doctor is a bit stumped and I am coming to the end of my tether, help!!

Rebecca

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

When you tilt the glasses you add minus power and some degree of astigmatism.  However in some instances it is not possible to find a clear vision for distance.  I would suggest you push for seeing a corneal specialist and a cornea topography as soon as you can.

JCH MD

[bex2323]

Hi John, thanks so much for your quick reply! I assumed the eye doctor at the hospital would have checked this, but perhaps he didnt. Why is is that when I tilt my glasses (think its called pantoscopic tilt) does it go clear and sharp? Surely if it does that then the optician should be able make my left eye clear when doing a refraction test? Ive got my next appointment back with the eye doctor in the middle of october and I assume if it vision hasnt goneback to normal he will refer me to a specialist.

Rebecca

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

This is not an unusual situation and there are numerous postings like this. In most instances the problem is the contact lens has warped the cornea, a condition called irregular astigmatism. It can take many months for the cornea to assume a regular structure. During this time glasses do not correct the eye to normal vision. In rare cases the problem can be permanent.

I would suggest you see a cornea specialist Eye MD ophthalmologist. You should have corneal topography on both eyes to see if you do have irregular astigmatism or a rarer disease called keratoconus.

JCH MD