Are You a Candidate for Ortho-K?

Ortho-k is a treatment designed to reshape your eyes without surgery and with minimal impact on your everyday life. Imagine not needing to wear lenses during the day. Depending on your vision problems or issues, you may be a good candidate for ortho-k.

 

What Is Ortho-K?

Orthokeratology, or ortho-k, is a way to improve your vision without surgery or daily-wear corrective lenses. Ortho-k treatment can be used in treating both myopia and hyperopia. Myopia is nearsightedness, where you can see close things but have difficulty seeing things far away. Hyperopia is the opposite, where you can see things far away, but up-close vision blurry and ill-defined.

 

Astigmatism, in some instances, can also be a candidate for ortho-k treatment by reshaping the cornea to fix your vision problems. The process is less invasive than other options, and the benefits are outstanding.

 

How Does Ortho-K Work?

Ortho-k uses customized, rigid contact lenses that reshape your eyes. These lenses are gas permeable and worn overnight. When you wake up, you remove the lenses; your eyes will then hold their new shape for 24-36 hours. To maintain the adjustments, you must wear the lenses nightly or for a few hours every day, depending on what your eye doctor recommends.

You will go through a fitting process to help you acquire the results you expect. You may need multiple office visits to get the best fit, and you will also need regular visits with your eye doctor to make sure they continue to fit well.

As the treatment is not invasive, ortho-k is a safe treatment to correct vision issues. Anyone who wears contact lenses is at risk for an eye infection, but the chances are low. If used in children, ortho-k lenses are also effective in the same way. But you need to be even more aware of the strict cleaning requirements needed to take care of lenses.

 

Who Is a Good Candidate?

If you are nearsighted or farsighted without any additional issues or complications, you may be an excellent candidate for ortho-k. Astigmatism can also be treated with ortho-k if the condition is not severe. More recent advancements have also made it possible to treat patients who suffer from presbyopia. Presbyopia occurs as your eyes age and is usually treated with bifocals or transitions lenses. Still, ortho-k can adjust your eyes enough to give you clear vision for at least a day.

 

Patients who enjoy sports or other activities and those who want to be free of daily wear lenses can also be excellent candidates. They will be able to engage in activities without worrying about losing contacts or getting their glasses knocked off and, instead, still be able to see without going through surgery.

 

Children can also be perfect candidates as ortho-k can slow down the progression of nearsightedness in kids. Reshaping encourages a change in eye muscle coordination as children grow, and ortho-k lenses have the power to slow down and reduce the changes expected in myopic progression.


 

Call us at 352-306-1103 to see if you are a candidate for Ortho-K or to book an appointment with Hedges Eye Care at our Newberry, Florida location.