Q & A: About Orthokeratology

What is Orthokeratology?

Orthokeratology is a revolutionary non-surgical treatment that uses specially designed lenses to improve your natural vision in a matter of hours - days - weeks.  Lenses are worn while sleeping and are removed upon awakening.  Orthokeratology can dramatically improve your nearsightedness, astigmatism, and even farsightedness as quickly as the next day after beginning therapy.  Ortho-K can also help people that need bifocals or progressives.

This marvelous method of vision improvement is FDA approved for both children and adults, and although it is new to many people, it actually began 50 years ago, in 1962.  Ortho-K is safe, effective, and best of all, it is non-surgical.

Orthokeratology is similar in many respects to Orthodonture, and has been explained as "braces for your eyes".  Retainer lenses are worn while sleeping to maintain clear vision.

Initially, Orthokeratology attracted the interest of adults who wanted to enter certain careers such as pilots, police officers and the military. Orthokeratology is particularly effective in controlling the progression of myopia (nearsighted) in children. In the US, 1 out of 4 children are nearsighted.

What are advantages of Ortho-K over regular eyeglasses?

For children, is that there is often little or no progression of nearsightedness.

For adults, the advantage of Ortho-K for is the freedom of seeing clearly without having to wear eyeglasses.

Many people do not like to be encumbered by eyeglasses during the day or when they are playing sports.  They just want to be able to see.

Why not just wear Eyeglasses or Contact Lenses during the day?

The advantages of Ortho-K over regular eyeglasses is that there is often no progression or considerably less progression of nearsightedness.

The advantages of Ortho-K over daytime contact lenses is that Ortho-K solves problems that some people who wear day contact lenses have, such as…

• the dry and irritated feeling that some people are bothered with after several hours of contact lens wear.
• the abilty to see clearly to play sports without having to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses, for example while swimming, scuba diving, or playing basketball.
• the preventative aspect, especially for children that are becoming more nearsighted.  Ortho-K has the benefit of being able to see (the blackboard) clearly while also having the advantage of not progressing or becoming more nearsighted.

Ortho-K lenses have a safety record similar to those of regular contacts. Unlike lenses worn during the day that change or disrupt the tear film on the eye, Orthokeratology lenses are worn only at night.  All soft contact lenses dry out during the day.  With Ortho-K there is nothing in the eye during the day, so there is no soft lens in the eye to dry out!

Is it FDA Approved?

Orthokeratology is an FDA approved, non-surgical procedure, for vision improvement, for both children and adults.

Surgical refractive procedures are approved only for adults.  Ortho-K therefore is really the only way to correct myopia if a child is already nearsighted.

Why have I not heard of Ortho-K?

Ortho-K began in 1962, but people still have not heard of it.  Orthokeratology is taught in all optometry schools and colleges, but not all doctors choose to offer this technology, in the same way that not all dentists choose to provide Orthodonture.  New lenses, new materials, and new designs have improved the results of Ortho-K.  Ortho-K is safe, effective, and best of all, it is non-surgical.