What Conditions Can Ortho-k Correct?

What Conditions Can Ortho-k Correct?

People commonly turn to eyeglasses, contacts, and surgery when correcting refractive errors in their vision. All these work wonderfully and have been working for quite some time—eyeglasses for several hundred years, contacts for about a hundred years, and laser eye surgery for a few decades. However, there is another option - orthokeratology (ortho-k).

 

What if you could have great vision during the day without wearing glasses, contacts, or surgery? Ortho-k lenses are a type of contact lens, but unlike regular contacts, you do not wear them during the day. You wear them while you sleep and, in the morning, voila—the lenses provide near-perfect vision during the day.

 

What Are Ortho-k Lenses?

These customized contact lenses subtly change the shape of the eye's cornea, the front surface, throughout the night. They enable patients to wake up the next day with clear vision without needing contact lenses or glasses. They are perfect for those who have mild refractive errors.

 

According to studies, ortho-k lenses can assist toddlers and teenagers in slowing the evolution of myopia. They also help adults avoid developing eye disorders. The lenses may also make it possible for many adults with presbyopia to go without reading glasses. 

 

What Condition Do They Treat?

Presbyopia, astigmatism, hyperopia (farsightedness), and myopia (nearsightedness) are the four vision problems that ortho-k most frequently treats. Ortho-k has proven to work best for myopia of all these issues. The best candidates for ortho-k treatment have myopia up to -6.00 diopters. Other therapies might be necessary for more severe myopia. 

 

To treat and stop the progression of childhood myopia, eye professionals frequently turn to ortho-k. No other therapeutic approach in the literature has been as successful for this specific objective.

 

What Are Other Benefits of Ortho-k Lenses?

Give Fast Results

Ortho-k produces quick outcomes. Some patients can stop wearing their prescriptive eyewear after just one night of therapy. It can take a couple of days or two to three weeks for the best results if you or your child has a powerful prescription.

All-day Vision

The nighttime vision correction caused by the subtle corneal reshaping lasts all day and occasionally even two days.

They Are Comfortable

Ortho-k lenses are made using precise mapping technology and are fitted specifically to the eyes for maximum comfort.

Who Is a Candidate for Ortho-k?

You can stop using the lenses at any moment because the temporary corneal reshaping impact carries a low risk. However, you will have to go back to other options. Ortho-k is a good option for most people with mild to severe nearsightedness. They are a safe option for children.

Young people who desire to stop wearing glasses but are not old enough for LASIK are often suitable candidates for ortho-k. Candidates can also include people who work in dusty surroundings or play contact sports, which can be problematic for wearing contact lenses.

Who Can Fit These Lenses?

Orthokeratology is a highly specialized sort of contact lens prescription, and only some eye doctors who fit contacts also fit ortho-k lenses—this is crucial to understand. Optometrists in the United States do most orthokeratology lens fits. But ortho-k fits are also carried out by ophthalmologists.

For more on what conditions ortho-k can correct, call Claremore Eye Associates at our office in Claremore, Oklahoma. Call (918) 233-3319 to book an appointment today.