Ortho-K

What Is Ortho-K?

When a patient uses orthokeratology, they are using a myopia control method that involves specially made contact lenses that are created for their unique eyes. These contacts are used to reshape the eye's cornea so that vision is improved. The patient only wears these at night while they sleep. As they wear them, the contacts put gentle pressure on the corneas of the eyes to reshape them during sleep. The benefits are reversible when the patient stops wearing them, but they can continue for as long as they are worn at night. For children, they are often used to slow down the progression of myopia.
Many people choose to use orthokeratology because it allows them to go without glasses or contacts during the daytime, and it doesn't require any surgery. Many patients have a vision that changes over time throughout their childhood and into their 20s. This means that they can't have LASIK surgery until their prescription has stabilized, but in the years before surgery is possible, ortho-k can help.

Using Orthokeratology

Each eye has a cornea on the front of the outside. This is a flexible, clear, protective tissue that is dome-shaped. The cornea focuses the light that comes into the eye and assists the eye with focusing. If you are interested in getting ortho-k contacts, our eye doctor will use a device that doesn't touch the eye to measure the cornea and create a complete map of it.
This is what makes it possible to create a pair of ortho-k contacts that will precisely fit your eyes. There is no pain involved in this process. The contacts work on the cornea of each eye to flatten it. This will change the way the cornea bends light. They do this flattening at night for vision correction during the day.