Corneal ectasias are a common category of eye disorder that affect the shape of your corneas, or the normally smooth, dome-like structures covering the exposed surface of your eyes. The most common corneal ectasia is a cornea-bulging condition called keratoconus.
Luckily, there’s a reliable solution for this vision-impairing eye disorder.
Done in less than two hours right here in our office, corneal cross-linking (CXL) is a minimally invasive procedure that strengthens corneal tissue and halts keratoconus progression.
At Advanced Lasik in Midtown East, New York City, and Long Beach and Duarte, California, ophthalmologist Randa Garrana, MD, specializes in this breakthrough keratoconus treatment. Here’s what you need to know about this exciting development in ophthalmology.
Keratoconus causes the cornea to take on a bulging cone shape. There’s a genetic connection, as keratoconus runs in families, but beyond that, the cause isn’t fully understood.
Keratoconus affects your vision in two ways. As the cornea becomes more cone shaped, your vision changes in an unbalanced way, causing irregular astigmatism, a condition that corrective lenses can’t offset.
As the cone shape becomes more pronounced, you become increasingly nearsighted and you may experience frequent changes to your eyeglass prescription. Other symptoms of include:
Keratoconus may sometimes cause discomfort or pain, but not for every patient. You may be prone to eye strain and headaches as vision changes gradually worsen.
In a biological sense, the term cross-linking means to join tissues together. In the case of corneal treatment, Dr. Garrana cross-links collagen fibers within the cornea using riboflavin (vitamin B2) and ultraviolet (UV) light to build these chemical bonds.
While CXL can’t correct keratoconus damage, it stops disease progression. Your best results come when a comprehensive eye exam discovers keratoconus in its early stages. Done in the early stages of keratoconus, CXL may reduce your eventual need for corneal transplants.
Your office procedure starts with drops to numb your eyes. Then, Dr. Garrana removes the thin epithelium covering the cornea. This allows riboflavin drops to penetrate more deeply into the cornea.
After about 30 minutes, your eyes are ready for treatment. This consists of focusing a UV light on the cornea to activate the riboflavin, forming new bonds between collagen fibers, the cross linking of the procedure’s name.
That’s it. Dr. Garrana finishes up by placing a bandage contact lens over your corneas. These remain in place for a week. We provide complete aftercare instructions at the time of your procedure, which may include prescription eye drops to aid your recovery.
Ready to learn more about CXL? Call or click online to request an appointment at Advanced Lasik today. We have one East Coast office in Midtown East, New York City, and two West Coast offices in Duarte and Long Beach, California.
