My Scleral lens fitting UK experience - Ken Pullum - advice needed

[ScottishDave]

Hi,

Thought I'd add my experience with sclerals that I had fitted by Ken Pullum at his private practice.

First of all I'd like to say that Ken is great. He his very understanding and offered as much time as I needed over my day and a half with him. He understood that I had traveled a long way (7hrs by train) and tried to accommodate me the best he could.

I has my appointment on the Friday at 9:30am and over the course of the day I think i spent a good 3-4hrs with Ken and his staff. I also went back in on the Saturday and spent another hour or so with them over the course of the morning. All for the £300 consultation fee - well worth it.

I tried the lenses over the course of the Fri and Sat and am still not sure whether they are for me or not. I could feel the lenses in both eyes (not painfully) but when i rolled my eyes from side to side is when i felt them the most. The feeling was like they were slightly snagging on both eyes and then unsnagging as I move the eyes from side to side. It's hard to explain!!

I had them in for 4 hrs the first time during the afternoon and took them out at 5pm. At 9pm I fell asleep in front of the telly and woke up at 9:45pm. Both eyes were stuck shut with mucus, this has never happened before so it must have been down to the prior lens wear. Durning that night I woke up 2 or 3 times and each time my eyes were stuck shut again. Ken was not really concerned with this.

The next day Ken had me in the lenses for a few more hrs before I had to go home. I had the same slight feeling in both eyes as i had the day before. Ken said he still wasn't sure whether I would be suitable or not (less than 50% of his patients can tolerate them) so he would like for me to have a longer trial. He has offered to send the lenses up to a colleague of his in Scotland for me to do the extended trial before I commit to the purchase or not. (£1,500 total)

Has anyone else had a similar experience with the lenses feeling like they are snagging in the eyes? Has it ever went away.

Why do Boston take 2 weeks to fit these lenses when Ken managed it in a few hrs?

[Reggie]

It doesn't take the whole two weeks to make PROSE. From my experience, most patients have their own lens after the first few days depending on how complicated their condition is. You start out by wearing "old" lenses from previous patients, and then make you your own lenses, and they continue to make changes to the design until they have the best fit for you. They give you the 2 week period just so you understand that you just won't be in and out of there. I have seen extreme cases that take longer than 2 weeks though.

The lenses shouldn't feel more uncomfortable while you move your eyes side to side. The fact that you have a "snagging" feeling makes me to believe that the lenses aren't the best fit for you. Then again, I haven't read much about Dr. Pullum or his lenses. Hope you find something that helps.

[nors]

I recently had lenses fitted by Ken too. I have a similar feeling to what you describe as the snagging when moving eyes. I also get mucus build up whilst wearing the lenses. I was given a two week follow up appointment which will be next week. I am hoping they will be able to do a refit which make them more comfortable. Will post again to let you know how they did the refit.

[ScottishDave]

Please do Nors, that would let me know whether the fit might not be right, although Ken seemed to think the fit was great.

[Anthony16]

Hi Dave,how are u?
As u know,im also in the uk.
Personally,i would not think Ken Pullum would be at the same level as BFS or Dr Gemoules when it comes to getting the right fit.
U may get lucky,however.
Just my opinion

[ScottishDave]

Hi Anthony,

Did you eventually get to see Scott Kornfeld? I'm still wearing the moisture chambers he made for me, mainly at work.

You may be right about Ken but he charges £300 for a consultation and £1,500 for the lenses, I fear going to BFS would cost a great deal more!! Part of the reason i went to Ken first was to even to get a small sense of whether then lenses might help me, if this proved right i could have progressed to BFS. I'll try Kens lenses for a few more weeks i guess then make a judgement.

[Anthony16]

Hi dave,yes i saw him recently.Thanks for your tips about the LIRR.I took the Ronkonkoma bound one.Had a bit of trouble finding Woodbury optical but got there in the end.
As far as i know(and i may be wrong),Dr Gemoules in Texas in 70% cheaper than BFS and some argue his scleral fitting is better as he takes a scan of your eye to adjust the lens to the correct size.
May be worth a look.
I know BFS is incredibly expensive.

Hi Anthony,

Did you eventually get to see Scott Kornfeld? I'm still wearing the moisture chambers he made for me, mainly at work.

You may be right about Ken but he charges £300 for a consultation and £1,500 for the lenses, I fear going to BFS would cost a great deal more!! Part of the reason i went to Ken first was to even to get a small sense of whether then lenses might help me, if this proved right i could have progressed to BFS. I'll try Kens lenses for a few more weeks i guess then make a judgement.