Orthokeratology (Ortho-K)
Do you want to be able to see during the day without needing to wear spectacles or daytime contact lenses? Ortho-K (Orthokeratology, or OK) is a therapy that allows you to do just that.
A type of custom designed contact lenses that helps improve your sight while you sleep, Ortho-K reshapes your cornea, providing non-surgical and fully reversible vision correction. Essentially, Ortho-K is a rigid gas permeable contact lenses that can help you see during the day by reshaping your cornea while you sleep. We like to think of Ortho-K as braces for the eyes.
Ortho-K works by gently and safely reshaping your cornea while you sleep. This allows light to converge on your retina without the need for glasses or daytime contact lenses. Essentially, Orto-K allows both the peripheral and central retina to focus simultaneously, which slows down the elongation process of the eyeball. This reduces the rate of myopia progression, thus controlling myopia.
While Ortho-K will often improve your eyesight to a certain level after the first night, you’ll still need contact glasses to see during the first week or so. While it takes time for your cornea to mould into the desired shape, you’ll notice your vision gradually improve after each night of lens wear. By the fourteenth day, you’ll probably find that you no longer need your glasses or contacts, however for some people this can take up to a month.
Overall, Ortho-K is a relatively safe treatment, however, as with any treatment, there is always some risk involved. The main concern is a risk of infection, as with wearing soft disposable contact lenses. Good cleaning and hygiene routines will help minimise this risk, and we’ll happily provide advice on best practices. At your follow up appointments, we’ll check your ocular health and keep an eye on things to ensure that you can safely carry on wearing your Ortho-K lenses.
At A Plus Optometry, we follow a set process to ensure we are most effectively and safely prescribing you with Ortho-K lenses. This process is also designed to guide you through the Ortho-K procedure, providing advice and tailored care at every step of the way.
This process involves the following stages:
- Initial comprehensive eye exam – we first thoroughly check your ocular health and current prescription before we move on to your Ortho-K consultation.
- Ortho-K consultation – during this appointment we’ll measure the shape of your cornea and then discuss whether Ortho-K lenses are going to be right for you.
- Ortho-K tutorial – once your custom Ortho-K lenses have arrived, we’ll show you exactly how to insert and remove them. We’ll also discuss lens hygiene and best cleaning practices to ensure you keep the risk of infection to a minimum. We’ll check the lenses fit properly before sending you on your way.
- Overnight review – the morning after, we’ll have you back in to check the effect of the lenses and review topography. We’ll also check the health of your eyes.
- Seven day follow up –one week after you’ve started wearing your Ortho-K lenses, we’ll conduct a topography and ocular health review and assess whether your vision has improved.
- One month follow up – one month later, we’ll check your topography and ocular health again, and make sure that your vision is stable throughout the day.
- Three and six month follow ups –again after three months and six months, we’ll review your vision, ocular health and topography, and will also check the condition of your lenses.
- Six month follow ups – after your first six month follow up, you’ll be required to come back in every six months thereafter so we can make sure that your eyes are healthy and things are tracking as they should be.
At A Plus Optometry, we emphasize on keeping your eyes safe and healthy, so all the costs of the follow up appointments (except the yearly Comprehensive Eye Exam) are included in your Ortho-K Advantage Programme. If you would like more information about Ortho-K or have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Generally, Ortho-K is most commonly used by people with:
- Short-sightedness and mild long-sightedness
- Myopia, including rapidly progressive myopia
- Allergies or dry eyes, who find soft contact lenses uncomfortable
- Presbyopia, who need bifocal or multifocal lenses
If you’re considering Ortho-K as an option to correct your vision, feel free to make an appointment so we can talk you through the process and provide expert advice on whether Ortho-K is suitable for you.
