When can I wear a scleral lens after my transplant?

When the graft is stable and your surgeon clears it — commonly within 3 to 12 months. We design the lens to vault the graft and its junction entirely.

Will I still need a lens after a transplant?

Often, yes. Grafts restore clarity, not perfect shape; a specialty lens usually delivers the sharpest vision over one.

Do you work with my surgeon?

Yes — co-management is the arrangement: shared records, shared milestones, and aftercare visits here on Wilshire.

How long does a corneal transplant last?

Many last for years. In an NEI-funded study of full-thickness transplants for disease of the cornea's inner cell layer, 75% of grafts from donors aged 34 to 71 were still successful 10 years later. A major risk is rejection, when the body treats the new cornea as foreign and tries to get rid of it. Medicine can help stop it, so eye pain, light sensitivity, redness or cloudy vision after a transplant is a same-day call.

How long do stitches stay in after a corneal transplant?

It varies: your surgeon removes them at follow-up visits, on a schedule set for your graft. Vision keeps shifting while stitches come out, and depending on the type of transplant, full recovery can take up to a year, so glasses bridge the gap and the final scleral lens is designed once your surgeon confirms the graft is stable.

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brandon Cohenmehr, OD Last reviewed October 24, 2026

Corneal Transplant Co-Management

The surgeon replaces the tissue. We protect the result.

When keratoconus, scarring or hydrops outruns lenses and cross-linking, a corneal surgeon may replace part or all of the cornea. Our job is everything around that: the work-up before, the monitoring after, and the lens that finally makes the graft see.

Book appointmentOr call 310-828-2010 Accepted insurance

A clear graft at the slit lamp, sutures visible

Full thickness: Penetrating keratoplasty (PK)
Front layers only: DALK — inner layer kept
Our role: Work-up, aftercare, lenses
Scleral refit: Commonly 3–12 months, surgeon-cleared

After surgery

The graft year, shared between offices.

01
Healing checks
Pressure, sutures, surface health and rejection watch, split with your surgeon so visits stay close to home.
02
Suture-stage vision
Expect the prescription to wander while sutures come and go; glasses bridge the gap.
03
Clearance for lenses
When the surgeon confirms stability (commonly somewhere in the 3-to-12-month window), we re-map the eye.
04
The graft-protecting fit
A free-form scleral lens designed from an Eaglet Eye Surface Profiler map vaults the graft without touching it, clearing the junction and landing evenly beyond it.

Red, painful, light-sensitive or suddenly blurry after a transplant is never “wait and see” — call the same day.

Warning signs

RSVP — the graft rejection alphabet.

Redness
Sensitivity to light
Vision drop
Pain — any of these, call 310-828-2010 the same day

Call 310-828-2010

Common questions

Corneal transplant, answered.

Anything else, call the office at 310-828-2010.

When the graft is stable and your surgeon clears it — commonly within 3 to 12 months. We design the lens to vault the graft and its junction entirely.
Often, yes. Grafts restore clarity, not perfect shape; a specialty lens usually delivers the sharpest vision over one.
Yes — co-management is the arrangement: shared records, shared milestones, and aftercare visits here on Wilshire.
Many last for years. In an NEI-funded study of full-thickness transplants for disease of the cornea's inner cell layer, 75% of grafts from donors aged 34 to 71 were still successful 10 years later. A major risk is rejection, when the body treats the new cornea as foreign and tries to get rid of it. Medicine can help stop it, so eye pain, light sensitivity, redness or cloudy vision after a transplant is a same-day call.
It varies: your surgeon removes them at follow-up visits, on a schedule set for your graft. Vision keeps shifting while stitches come out, and depending on the type of transplant, full recovery can take up to a year, so glasses bridge the gap and the final scleral lens is designed once your surgeon confirms the graft is stable.

Corneal transplant near you

12222 Wilshire Blvd, on the Santa Monica border.

West Los Angeles Brentwood Santa Monica Westwood Beverly Hills Culver City Pacific Palisades West Hollywood Marina del Rey Newport Beach

Also consider

Next step

Graft healed and hungry for sharp vision?

Bring your surgical records; our eye doctors in Los Angeles will map the eye and tell you honestly what a lens can add.

Book a post-graft evaluation Or call 310-828-2010