More than 150 million people in the United States rely on corrective lenses to help them see their way more clearly. While effective, wearing glasses or contact lenses on a daily basis can present challenges. Now, imagine waking up each morning with great vision that serves you throughout the day, which is exactly what we can accomplish with ortho-k lenses.
As our name implies, Dr. Curtis Frank and our team here at the Vision and Ortho-K Center have extensive experience with orthokeratology, or ortho-k for short.
Here’s a look at this approach to vision correction and whether ortho-k is right for you.
When it comes to refractive errors, the issue often lies in the shape of your cornea, as well as the shape of your lenses. If either of these two (or both) are misshapen, the light that passes through isn’t focused properly onto your retina, which leads to distorted vision.
Ortho-k is a technique in which we use rigid gas-permeable lenses to reshape your cornea each night, allowing you to wake up with improved vision as your cornea holds the shape throughout the day.
We can use these lenses to correct myopia (nearsightedness), astigmatism, hyperopia (farsightedness), and in some cases, presbyopia (age-related vision issues).
Not only do ortho-k lenses improve your vision, they can also slow or halt the progression of refractive errors like myopia, especially in children.
There are many reasons why our patients turn to ortho-k to correct their vision, including:
To put it into numbers, ortho-k is a great solution if your prescription is in the range of +2.00 to -6.00 with -1.75 diopters of astigmatism or less.
Outside of these more technical issues, many of our patients turn to ortho-k simply because they don’t like the look of glasses or they want the freedom to see clearly without relying on lenses.
Another great benefit of ortho-k is its use in halting the progression of myopia in children. The American Academy of Ophthalmology gathered statistics from several studies and found that, “Orthokeratology may be effective in slowing myopic progression for children and adolescents, with a potentially greater effect when initiated at an early age (6-8 years).”
In other words, if your child is nearsighted, ortho-k lenses have the potential to halt the progression of this refractive error, setting them up for a future of great vision.
The best way to find out whether you or your child may benefit from ortho-k lenses is to come in for a consultation at our office in Boston, Massachusetts. Simply call us to schedule within our business hours of Monday through Thursday from 11am-6pm.
