EYE CARE CENTRE
JOHANNESBURG

The cornea also known as the "window of the eye" is the clear transparent front structure of the eye, allowing light to travel through towards the back of the eye known as the retina. It provides most of the focusing power when light enters the eye. A variety of contact lenses may be applied to compensate for the various visual refractive disorders of the eye ie. myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia. The advantages of contact lenses over spectacles include improved peripheral vision, increased freedom doing recreational and sporting activities amongst others.

Rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses remain the cornerstone non- surgical treatment of keratoconus in achieving clear vision. This disease of the cornea causes it to weaken and bulge outwards often presenting as astigmatism producing moderate to severe blurring of the eyesight.

There may be instances either through disease and / or injury that the cornea is damaged resulting in poor eyesight. In collaboration with reputable corneal surgical specialists cornea procedures such as corneal cross-linking for keratoconus, corneal rings(Intacs), and refractive procedures such as LASIK, PRK and iLASIK may be referred appropriately. When no other method of treatment is applicable to a dysfunctional cornea a transplant may be indicated whereby the damaged cornea is replaced with a healthy, clear donor cornea. This is not a simple decision and a number of factors must be considered in deciding a corneal transplant.