Ben and Lauren are a couple of 30 somethings from Romsey in the UK. Ben created this channel to document their life and adventures and to start collecting memories on RU-vid. This channel stated in December 2019 and is a mixture of reviews of products I've bought since then and also starting a family with Lauren with the arrival of our baby daughter Eloise in October 2020.
Hello! When my doctor told me that i was diagnosed woth Keratoconus, i triwd holding my tears because i thinking if i was about to go blind. But my doc told me that i wont and there would be a way to stop keratoconus from progressing. Cross linking or corneal transplant. Since we are financially not ready for the amount of money to pay, we thought of going for cross linking since the doc said it could still be of a help..
How is your vision in your good eye now? I had my left eye done which is my bad eye and found the procedure worsened my vision, so im affraid of getting my right eye done which is my good eye in case it ruins my vision.
Thank you so much for sharing this , I was diagnosed yesterday and I am panicking right now I was about to cry but this video helped me a lot to calm down
I remember crying when I got home from the hospital when I was first diagnosed thinking it was the end of the world. I'm now eight years down the road and after cross linking, most days now I forget I was even diagnosed with this disease. I hope you have a similar experience too. Wishing you all the best and I hope you overcome it, I feel confident you will!
These things are surprisingly powerful from just a small device with a USB charger. Mine is 21watt and it said it goes from 40psi to 140psi! I'm still on setting 1 and it hurts, although I am recovering from gingivitis. I am the same with oaty cereal with lots of hard bits. I love it, but it doesn't love my teeth and brushing never gets it all out and I have to use interdental brushes and floss picks. This is a game changer since I bought one. Warm water is a must though, as cold water seems to hurt. I do this before brushing and so much food comes out into the sink!
Great comment, really sums up the experience of using one of these. I agree I think if you have sensitive teeth it can be a bit too much. Hopefully when you overcome your gingivitis it will stop hurting.
@@BenPaton81 Thanks. after the weekend my gums feel a lot better and I'm able to go up to setting 2 and 3 now. I like the massaging sensation against the gums and I often use this after oaty cereal to get all the crap out of my mouth.
I have my schedule to get CXL for today, after taking 2 years of going to appointments to the hospital. I need to do emphasis that those 2 years were just to regular appointments, but 2 months ago the doctors told me that I need to get CXL as soon as possible, cause my left eye was progressing with KC. So, honestly I'm nervous, but I'm trying to be ok.
Wishing you the best of luck, I hope it all goes well. Many people have had this done before, it's relatively low risk you will come out the other side and get on with your life before you know it.
BEWARE!!! I purchased two of these by mistake. I tried contacting the OrthoPik support email and phone number provided. The email came back with an automated message saying they would contact me in 24 hours. I have heard nothing, and it's been two weeks. The phone number is a disconnected phone in Mexico. I read their terms and agreement. They take no responsibility for this product and if you have a problem you have to contact them through a third party, which no number or name is provided.
Hi I’m 25 and I never knew I had it. I have it on both eyes. I always thought that’s how the world looked. It’s like 85% of the contrast is where the real image is. And areas of bright or dark contrast gets smeared for me. I guess my brain learned to read and ignore the bourriness OR my eyes have gotten worse. . But one day I found myself asking why do I have double vision even if the letters are so big on the tv screen. That’s when I went to an optometrist for the first time. They gave me prescription glasses which helped centralize the ghosting image a bit, and the polarized and other add one of the optics allowed me to pin point contrast and read better. But of course, they said glasses will never fix it because the lenses would have to be as close to the eyes as possible, which what lens are for. So far it’s not progressing, I’m reading every day and thankfully my aim in video games is still accurate… but in a couple of years I’d like to have the cross linking procedure as a fail safe since I hear it will progress for a decade… hopefully I had it when I was a kid and I just noticed now that I’m older and it progressed and no further. But any worse than this… and I actually might lose my mind.. question though. I thought this was preventative procedure? It doesn’t reverse the degradation of the cornea before you had the procedure.
Thank you for sharing your story. the purpose of cross linking is to stop the disease from progressing. It may improve your eyesight slightly but that isn't guaranteed. The main purpose of it is to stop the disease getting worse. I was lucky in my case it did improve my vision a little bit.
@@BenPaton81 That's great reassurance, thanks. I will ask again in a couple years if you're still around and responding to comments on how your eye sight has been so far post procedure if the cornea has been stable. I've never done eye surgery before and knowing someone benefitted off a procedure is a good reassurance in knowing it has a high success rate. I don't want someone blasting UV rays and chemicals in my eyes without knowing it ACTUALLY works. I need my eyes to pay bills.
Hi ben, Do respond when u are available. I got diagnosed with kc and done c3r in both of my eyes , I am getting 6/9 vision in both my eyes with specs only (glasses) is it necessary to consider hard contact lenses or just be settle with glasses? And also lifting weights in gym leads to progression of kc?
Hello, I do respond but you should consult an ophthalmologist. I don't believe lifting weights is known to cause keratoconus... If you vision is 6/9 definately worth talking to an optician about the best options whether contacts or glasses.
@@BenPaton81 thank you for your response I didn’t mean to say it cause kc(for lifting weights) i just wanted to know does lifting weights leads to progression? because of pressure created in eye and I also consulted optician regarding glasses or contacts he said to go with glasses if u r getting good vision with it 🙂.
I ordered waterfloss and excited to use it thanks for this its really helpful.. i just want to ask if the smell of your mouth is better than before youre not using water floss?
I am trying these out as well Ben. Seen as we get very little sun in the UK with daily geo-engineering I decided to use a grow lamp. It's helping I think.
Thank you for this video! I was referred to an eye hospital in late March after a routine opticians appointment, and few days ago I recived keratoconus diagnosis which I was prepared for, but still came as a shock. I'm in my 30's so I didn't expect to be offered corneal crosslinking, but I was and ever since my anxiety is spiralling. I decided to have surgery on both eyes together due to my situation but now I have doubts 😔
What are your doubts? I think you are doing the right thing :) Wishing you all the best for the journey ahead. There will be a few tough times but you will come out the other side and eventually forget all about this period in your life!
Thank you Ben for sharing your experience. It was reassuring to hear you share the same problems. I'm 56 and never worn glasses before but noticed certain issues...when needing better sight when dealing with small surgical instrumentation as I'm a theatre scrub nurse, so cannot take reading glasses on and off when scrubbed, so went for varifocals straight away.
Thank you for your kind words, and I'm glad you found the video helpful! It sounds like you've made a practical choice with varifocals given your role and the challenges it presents. It’s great to hear that they are serving you well in such a demanding and dynamic environment. If you have any tips or further observations as you continue to adjust to them, I’d love to hear more about your experience! It could be incredibly useful for others in similar situations.
If you have to get up early for work (eg 5;15am), the Oclean wont wake up everyone in the house or annoy the neighbours! My sister immediately noticed it (favourably) when I used mine
I have had blurry vision since 12-13 on right eye. I have been diagnosed with moderate keratoconus on my right eye at 15, I have three options now: • Scleral lenses.(My opthalmologist said for 6 months, after that, they'll do tests to determine if it progressed and if I need surgery). • CXL or Keratoplasty.(Keratoplasty would possibly be done when I'm older, CXL might be done if my eye allergys are reduced). Now, I see slightly blurry on my left eye. Should I worry?
Worth seeing an ophthalmologist about your left eye as soon as you can if you have a history of Keratoconus in your right eye. I would also see about getting CXL done as soon as you can.
@@BenPaton81 Yes, I am scheduled next week. I got prescribed with Scleral lens so I'm going to go for trial in Scleral lenses in the right eye. And, I would have CXL after 6 months. In the left, I'd have to have tests again.
The REALLY annoying thing with them is that the layer that focuses on the different distances is not all focused but blurred on the peripherals as the lenses are not all clear but warped just on the bit you are supposed to through. Why can't they make the 3 distances really separate with the whole each distance bit being at the thickness they need to be.
You have to buy the best they sell this will reduce the amount of distortion but not cheap and all depends on your prescription. I have been told 2 weeks it takes to get used to them, get mine in two weeks. Super digital lenses hoping they do the job as having to carry reading glasses about is a real pain. I just want to put them on and that’s it.
I hope you get on with them, if anything maybe my poorly put together video has helped some people be a bit more patient with them as I do think the adjustment period for varifocals being longer is a real thing. I'm now on my second pair of varifocals and actually it was only a slight prescription change so it didn't take long at all to get used to the new pair compared to the original adjustment period.
I'm wearing my new varifocals for 3 weeks and I have mixed feelings about them. I'm struggling quite a lot. I told the optician I wanted to check my eyes for driving, as I found turning 53 I'm not as confident reading road signs etc. in my glasses that were a few years old (single vision). She advised me to go for the varifocals. It took me 2.5 weeks to get used to driving in the during daylight but I can't cope with them in the dark, I can't read road signs, keep seeing shadows all over the place etc. I thought maybe I was tired, but took out my old single lens (prescription 8 years old) and hey presto, was able to see perfectly well, just need the prescription tweaked a bit for my distance (I'm short-sighted not long sighted). I also struggle watching telly on my 55" TV screen that's only 8-10 feet away from the couch I'm sitting on - I often watch Netflix etc with subtitles on and the words are a bit blurry). So, not sure if my prescription is incorrect or I need to give them another few weeks but I am utterly exhausted wearing them as I am struggling so much to find some sort of focus and I must look like one of those "Winston" nodding dogs that people have in their cars because my head is all over the place. Not happy chappies 😞
Have you been wearing them non-stop without taking them off? Sounds like you are having a hard time adjusting to them or they aren't the right prescription for you.
@@BenPaton81 Hi Ben, thanks for replying to me, I appreciate it. Well I went back to the opticians and I'm going back to single vision lenses for every day walking around and driving (and also for out running, gym etc). I have a pair of "super readers" for my office work, for reading documents. I've no problem reading my 24" LED computer monitor in my single vision lenses but need the super readers for my small laptop as the text is smaller unless I zoom in (they may also be known as occupational lenses/glasses). The real issue I have is with driving - especially in the dark - they just don't work for me and I can't take my eyes off the road long enough to try to focus on signs etc. as it is dangerous. I'm driving 37 years so I know when it doesn't feel right. Been wearing glasses (single vision) since I was 13. My optician thinks it could be a case of bad night vision and said this happens to a lot of people as they get older. So I guess its just something that happens to us and have to accept it.
Glad you found a resolution, maybe varifocals just don't work for everyone. It's interesting hearing of the phrase bad night vision, I've not heard that before but I think I know someone else who has this no matter what glasses they try.
@@BenPaton81 I first heard my dad mention bad night vision wrt driving, he's 82 (he's only ever had to wear reading glasses as he got a lot older, he's had perfect sight all his life and was a long distance lorry driver). I'm now 53 and this night vision issue (with my driving) only really started about a year ago. I noticed when I was driving one winter evening (in Ireland, so dark around 4.30/5pm) to a shopping centre I hadn't been to before and I couldn't read the road signs and it worried me. There is a condition called "nyctalopia" - but I don't think that's what I have, my optician did a full eye health check including optical scan so she would have picked that up. I think maybe this is just an age thing? But I'm happy with my single vision glasses and my super(duper)readers. Happy Easter Ben, enjoy the long weekend 🙂
I'm struggling with kc for over 14 years these disease very harsh because of it i had to drop out of college its really depressing not being able to find the contact lens , specialist in my country has made life very hard
I'm truly sorry to hear about the challenges you've been facing with keratoconus for so long. It's incredibly tough to deal with, especially when it impacts major aspects of your life like your education. The difficulty in finding the right contact lens and specialist sounds really frustrating. While I might not fully understand what you're going through, please know you're not alone. Have you considered looking into online forums or support groups for people with keratoconus?
Yeah, I have a cross-linking coming up in less than 2 weeks now. I've literally been getting more anxious and mainly frettin about future pain afterwards. I just hope I'm one of the people like you who who didn't have pain for that long.. 😅😅🙄🙏 I've been watching as many story share vids as I can find. 😅😂
Wishing you all the best and yes hopefully a speedy recovery! Yes the pain only lasted for 12 hours for me. Not that pleasant but then 12 hours goes by quickly.
@@BenPaton81 Also, from what I've seen so far, I guess I'll probably sleep a lot first couple days or so with the help of painkillers too. Lol Not sure, but I won't mind sleeping 😴 😅
