Orthokeratology
Orthokeratology or Corneal Refractive Therapy is a relatively new technique to improve vision without surgery. It involves wearing a moulded rigid contact lense while you sleep. This contact lense exerts a slight pressure on your eye, reshaping your cornea. The worse your eyesight is, the more pressure is needed.
I am slightly short-sighted, with my left eye being noticably worse than my right. Even so, my left eye is only -0.75, whatever that means, and my right is almost perfect, but not quite. I am only using a contact lense for my left eye.
Friday, 16 Dec 2005
I had an initial consultation with The Eye Practice on Market St in Sydney. It cost me a sweet $200 but I had a full suite of tests and got to see my eye in 3d. Medicare should cover $52 of that. He also mentioned something about the final mould fitting costing around $1000.. I suspect with all this expense, I may qualify for the Medicare 20% tax rebate.
Tuesday, 20 Dec 2005
Today I returned to The Eye Practice to receive an overnight contact and learn how to put it, pull it out, and clean it. It was an interesting experience.
These contacts are not like normal contacts. Normal contacts are reasonably sized, very flexible, and fit nicely over your eyes. Putting them in and pulling them out's more or less straight-forward. Putting these in is pretty tough, but I suspect normal contact lenses would be similar for me at this point. I'm just not used to putting things in my eyes. To pull it out, I have a plunger. Yup, a mini plunger. I am now meant to poke myself in the eye with this plunger, and pull. I suppose there's another way to get it out, but the plunger is probably the easiest way.
Anyway.. regardless.. when it's in your eye, you know it. Every blink grinds over this brittle glass. You really only want to wear this thing when you sleep.
Cost: $80.
Wednesday, 21 Dec 2005
Last night I wore it. It was excruciating to put in. I had no horizontal mirror, and was having trouble putting it in while looking at the wall mirror, so I put it in blind. It took about 15 minutes and a lot of cursing, but I finally got it in. It was quite painful. I think I probably had lint or dust on it by that time. I took a look in the mirror as best I could, and it looked like it was in correctly, although if it wasn't I probably wouldn't have tried again. I slept, and during the night my eyes watered. I woke up with two bloodshot eyes, instead of just one. Early in the morning it must have shifted position, as it was over the corner of my eye when I took it out. This probably explained why it was a bit uncomfortable in the morning.
The first thing I did was to check my vision. I walked outside and looked at some trees in the distance. Lo-and-behold, I could clearly make out the leaves with my left eye. In fact, it was better than my right eye, which has quite good vision. It has been quite a while since I saw anything but an oil-painting of trees out of my left eye.
I visited the Optometrist at 8:30am for him to check that everything was ok. Apparently many people have problems putting it in the first time, and he has to show them again. I've got scottish blood in me - there's no way I was paying to be shown the same thing twice. He also checks that you've had vision improvement and that you've not damaged the surface of your eye. I had significant vision improvement (almost perfect) and I had no damage. Cost: $0 (YAY!)
I may try again tonight, or take a break for a night. I think that I must purchase a mirror that I can place horizontal, though.
Today, a contact-wearing workmate showed me how he puts in his contacts of a morning. I'll try his technique.
My eye does feel a little odd today. It is still watering a bit. I'll see how good it is by the end of the day.
4pm
The eye is feeling a whole lot better than this morning, although it's still watering a little. My eyesight is still pretty damn good. It's hard to tell if there's been any degredation.
Thursday, 22 December 2005
I didn't wear it last night. I did try to put it in, but I was tired and I'd had a couple of beers earlier in the night, so thought I'd give it a break (after 5 minutes of trying to put it in - the little bugger kept slipping off my finger.. I need a horizontal mirror) - the optometrist said this'd be ok. This morning my eyesight is still ok, although not as good as yesterday. The trees aren't an oil painting yet. The optometrist said the good eyesight would probably only last for 3/4 of a day at this point, so I'm quite happy that it's lasting longer. This suggests that I will only have to wear it every 2nd night once I'm used to them. Less discomfort - yay!
3pm
It's still damn clear. I'm pretty sure it's not as clear as yesterday, but it's very hard to tell. If my eyesight were like this normally, I certainly wouldn't have bothered seeing an Optometrist. I wonder if this will last a 3rd day.... (ok, ok, I'm trying to avoid torturing myself tonight)
Friday, 22 December 2005
Yesterday afternoon I bought a mirror that I could lay horizontal. It only took a couple of minutes to put the contact lense in this time. It did feel very uncomfortable for a while, but after I was in bed and relaxing, it was better. In the morning it was still in-place (the first time it had shifted as I was waking), and fixed a little tighter over the eye. I could actually open my eye and hardly feel it. In fact, my first attempt to plunge it out failed, so I blinked until it felt a little looser, and then it came out with ease. I actually had a dream as I was waking up that I'd already taken it out, and was disappointed to discover that I hadn't. My eye was a little red this morning, and it will probably take a while today before it feels 100% normal again, but my vision is once again perfect.
The distance vision in my left eye is better than my right again. I'm noticing that it's taking a little bit of effort to focus on the monitor this morning from my left eye. It does focus, but it's a little slow. I guess the eye must change shape when you focus, and it's just a little inflexible after the night.. I'll try some focus exercises.
Sunday, 26 December 2005
I've worn the lense the last two nights. My distance vision is perfect out of my left eye.. however now I really notice my right eye, since it isn't perfect. It's often blurry for distance vision - I'm not sure if it's just because my left one is so good now. Focusing my left eye on short distances still takes a little while, but is ok. I've had much less trouble putting it in and almost no trouble taking it out. It's still uncomfortable putting it in, but quite ok in the morning.
Tuesday, 3 January 2006
I'm still alive. I've an appointment with the Optometrist next Monday. At that point he'll test to see if my cornea is now the correct shape, and my eye is in good health after wearing the lense for a couple of weeks. I've been wearing it most nights, unless I've had a few to drink (eg. NYE). I suspect that wearing such a contact while my body's dehydrated might not be the wisest move, so I play it safe.
If all's well, he'll probably order a new lense for me, and gouge me for the rest of the money. I'll hopefully only have to wear the new contact every 2nd or 3rd day.. some reports have suggested that far less may be required, perhaps only once per week. I guess it depends solely on your eyes.
It's much easier to put in now, although it is still uncomfortable once in. By morning, it's pretty firmly in place, and it takes a good amount of blinking to loosen it enough to plunge it out.
Tuesday, 10 January 2006
I had my followup appointment. All's well in the land of my eye. The appointment lasted for exactly 15 minutes, and the bill was $950. That's the most expensive 15 minutes I've ever had. Granted, $550 of that was for "6 months followup care". So I guess I don't have to pay anything for any visits in the next 6 months. I'm considering going once a week just for a social visit, to help justify the expense.
When he checked, my left eye had 20/20 vision. It was still a little on the plus side in the afternoon. He told me that it was -0.75 to start with, and I think he said it was +0.75 in the afternoon.
I am to wear the contact lense now only every second day. In 6 weeks, I shall visit him again, at which point he may suggest wearing it every 3rd day.
I really thought there'd be something more to the $950 charge.. I thought I'd be receiving a custom contact lense, with precision adjustments, based on the results. I probably could've skipped out on this last appointment and continued the treatment by myself.. but if something went wrong, he'd probably gouge me at that point. Sigh.
Friday, 24 February 2006
On the 6th of February I had another checkup. All's well. This time, after a night's usage, my left eye was +0.25 at 4pm. This is quite comfortable. I only wear the lense every second night. It's still not quite comfortable, but it's not irritable. It's very nice to have good vision for 2 days.
The other weekend while visiting family, I forgot the plunger. I managed to get it out by flushing my eye with liquid and poking around randomly until it fell out. I'm sure there's technique to it, and it'd be safe.. but I'd rather use the plunger as it's very convenient.
I'm keeping up with the treatment.
I intend to leave Australia in June/July, so I'll visit the optometrist one last time before I fly out.. and find a good optometrist in Germany, in case I ever have a problem.
Tuesday, 14 April 2006
The Ortho-K's been going quite well. I now ensure that I rinse my fingers with the conditioner (special contact lense fluid for rigid gas permeable lenses) before I try to put in the contact. This is better than water which is bound to have impurities, and it goes in with less irritation.
I'm still using the plunger, not having mastered the art of removing the contact without it - last time I tried I pushed it into the corner of my eye, and had to spend 5 minutes gentle coaxing it out before plunging it awkwardly.
My vision seems pretty stable. I do worry about the effect on my other eye, now - whether it will become lazier. I guess that I could get a normal contact lense for it.
Monday, 8 May 2006
All's been well. As long as I'm extra careful when putting in the lense, ensuring that it is clean and has no dust on it, it goes in nicely and feels ok. I always put it in immediately before I go to sleep, otherwise it's irritating. Of a morning I can leave it in for a little while without drama.
I'd actually be interested in trying this on my right eye also, on alternating nights, but I don't think the lenses could cope with only -0.25.. I think they start at -0.75. Plus I'm not prepared to pay so much for more treatment just yet.
I emailed my optometrist and found out the brand of lenses I have - "NightMove" from Gelflex. There seems to be a bit of competition in the ortho-k market, so I thought it would be interesting to know. I'd say that the brand rarely makes a difference, however, so just go with what your optometrist of choice supplies.
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
I've been in Germany for the last two and a half months, and everything's going well. I stocked up on contact conditioner before I left, but am rationing it regardless, as I'm not sure where to find the right one in this small town (Passau) that I'm in. I've yet to visit an optometrist here, and frankly until something goes wrong or I notice a change in my eyes, I probably won't bother.
I'm now quite good at putting it in without any major discomfort. Sometimes it goes in so easily, that I have to check that it's not still on my finger and blink a couple of times before I'm convinced.
Coming out, I now put a normal eye-drop in my eye, then blink a few times, in order to loosen it up. I then plunge and it comes out straight away.
Occasionally I fall back into my old habits of avoiding the inevitable, and flinching at inappropriate times resulting in the contact on my eyelash or cheek. But I get over that pretty quickly.. there's less chance of pain if you don't flinch.
The other day I gave it a clean with a cotton-tip, because I noticed a small build-up on it. This was actually the suggestion of the Doc a while ago. Because of the shape of the lense, it's possible that just rubbing it with your fingers won't always get all the grime out. I then rinsed and washed and rinsed it thoroughly, and it was as good as new again.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Hi all. I've been living in the Netherlands for over a year now (for the month, not the weather, trust me), and my Ortho-K lens is still going strong. In Germany I found a source of the Boston lens shampoo and conditioner (fairly easy to come by as it turns out) and all's fine, 2 years on. Happy days! :-)
Other links: another person's experience
— by Robert Thomson, created 16th Dec, 2005, last modified 20th May, 2008 | Tags: Tech, World
42 comments:
Benno on 21st Dec, 2005, 09:15:
Hey Rob, find this interesting, I'm currently wearing contacts and this seems like an option for me. Enjoying hearing how it goes.
Cheers,
Benno
Guillaume on 22nd Dec, 2005, 13:10:
This is really interesting, I hadn't heard about ortho-k before today. I wore lenses for a couple of years, and found that putting them on really got easier with time. Eye drops and sterilising rubbing alcohol gel were indispensable during the day, but I suppose they won't fall out if you need a plunger to remove them!
M on 23rd Dec, 2005, 02:39:
Would this be an option for an old bird who's been wearing contacts for 32 odd years??? S'interesting.
Rob on 23rd Dec, 2005, 03:26:
It may work.. it depends on how good your vision is. but I'm pretty sure that after 32 years of contacts, your eyes aren't going to be getting much worse. I think that half the benefit of this is that it halts the deterioration of your eyesight. I doubt it would be worth the discomfort at your stage. Normal contacts are much more comfortable, I'd hazard to guess.
andyclap on 10th Feb, 2006, 21:08:
Did you keep up the treatment? What's your vision like now?
I've just got my lenses, and they're currently unbearable - I've never worn any before, and I'm wondering whether it's worth the hassle. I'm only -.75 and I'm feeling I may have been misadvised by the optician. Any words of encouragement?
Erik on 2nd Mar, 2006, 22:51:
Hello from the States- I've been wearing ortho-k lenses since late November- been told I have a "rigid cornea" as the Paragon CRT's are not doing the trick. I am wearing a pair of -1 soft lenses for my drive home every evening. My eyes were worse to begin with, -3, plus astigmatism. Switching to the Contex brand as they are supposedly a bit thicker for moulding my cornea.
FYI the trick to remove without plunger- hold your head down so your eyes are parallel to the table below- cup one hand under the eye to catch that expensive plastic, and use the other hand to gently pull the outside corner of your eyelid further out, and blink. They pop out with no complications.
Roxy on 12th Mar, 2006, 01:12:
I am an optometrist in the UK and have been wearing orthoK for 18 months now. I'm a -1.25 and love my lenses, apart from the evenings when I have to put them in. I agree it's uncomfortable, but it's worth it in the end.
Gloria on 19th Apr, 2006, 19:15:
hi there. i'm a blind spaniard who's heard about OK for the last 10 years or so and decided to give it a go only 3 months ago.
i've got myopy (-3) and can't tell you how happy i'm with my OK lenses, having getting rid of my black-frame, rain-and-dust catching glasses and drier-eyes soft contact lenses.
Didn't have the bad experiences putting them on and remorving them -i just took it veeery easy- my only problem with OK, though, is that they lift a bit too close to my pupil, so i see a glare very unpleasant in poor light conditions. i'm gonna have another pair fitted tomorrow, hopefully.
cost? in Spain you pay 700 Euros for 2 pairs and 1 year treatment. Since i live in London, i had to pay £650 for one pair only... twice as much...
Anyway, they are worth every penny!
Rob on 20th Apr, 2006, 03:32:
700 euros is good. There must be cheaper options in Australia... but I did go to an optometrist in the middle of the city, so I didn't expect bargain basement rates.
Elisa Pardo on 9th May, 2006, 13:10:
I think this will make a lot of people mad, and maybe start some medical tourism. Here in Moscow, Russia nighttime contact lenses cost the equivalent of $400, US dollars. That's about 217 British pounds and 316 Euros. Considering the average income of the average Russian, they couldn't sell them otherwise. I think the cost in other countries is artificially just about half of the surgery cost. So now we have a good idea about their profit margins, right? You've been wanting to see Moscow, isn't that true? They want people to teach English here, so there's that idea. I'm gong to get my nighttime contacts soon for moderate myopia. I'm optimistic, and optometrist-pessimistic.
Dr.Christopher Scheno on 20th May, 2006, 04:36:
I have with success fit people with prescriptions from -1.00 to -5.00. The trick to success is to not have too much astigmatism and to slightly over correct the patient if they do. People under a -4.00 should do extremely well provided the treatment zone is centered and the pupils are not too big. If night glare is a problem, I sometimes prescribe Alphagan-P, which makes the pupils smaller and the vision better -especially at night. Any questions visit my website or email @ drchris@drscheno.com. Good Luck!
Antonella on 6th Jun, 2006, 08:52:
Hello. I have been doing CRT/OK since November '03 and I love it. I looked into lasik but my vision was not bad enough/lasik not good enough. Lasik could improve me to 20/25 but I was 20/15 with glasses. Now I'm 20/15 with CRT. Cost is high here: $1500 USD but this includes follow up care for 1 year. The tests they do are extensive. I loved the topographical map of my eye! I recommended it to a friend and she had same problems as I did at the beginning: getting used to the lens in her eye at night and the 'wandering' lens in the morning. My nightly routine is floss, brush and put in my lenses. I was so happy to buy my first pair of non-prescription sun glasses. :-)
E on 19th Jun, 2006, 13:39:
I'm battling with glare today and started searching on the web for some solace. Or a picture to show to the eye-doc. I got my second pair of lenses last Thursday, I guess this is normal. With the first pair I also had a very bad day and the day after that I could see perfectly.
Putting in the lenses is still a battle - I use a new technique every night since my eyes know what happened the previous night ... and take preventative action ;-). Some reverse psychology. BUT ... it is still worth it. I hated the thing balancing on my nose and only wore it while driving. That meant I usually couldn't see what was going on - now I can see everything and the people think I am nuts 'coz I sometimes stand and stare down the passage ...
Tracy Harris on 30th Jun, 2006, 22:19:
Hi, I've had orthok lenses for 8 mths now and my eyes were -2.75 (right) and -2.00 (left) with astigmatism in both. I would never go back to wearing normal lenses/glasses. I read thru your diary above and laughed as I struggled with putting them in/taking them out but now have got used to it. They aren't the most comfortable things to wear I have to say but it's worth it to have perfect vision for a day. I have to wear mine everyday as my sight gets worse if I don't by the 2nd day. They are expensive (£44 per month but worth every penny. Anyone who is thinking about having them, I would say go for it but be prepared for them to feel uncomfortable for a few days.
Carol on 7th Jul, 2006, 19:11:
I love my contacts! I have been using them since January of '03. They cost me $800 US and I haven't spend a dime since. I put them in each night and every morning it is a brand new glasses-free great vision day.
Andrea on 21st Jul, 2006, 10:35:
I have just started using OK - this is day 3 and I've improved from -3.75 both eyes to approx -1.00 both eyes. I am experiencing alot of glare at night and also finding that my vision is deteriorating quite significantly during the day. My eyes feel tired as well. Did anyone else have these issues and if so, how long do they last? I am having treatment in London where the cost is £132 first session, £340 for the lenses and £350 for 1 year care.
mrsfrobes on 4th Aug, 2006, 17:00:
I looked into Lasik but my corneas are 520 microns and ideal is between 550 and 580. A little too risky for me. I am looking into OrthoK now. The trouble is my eyes are -5.5 and -5.75 which, from what I've read is too high. I've read it works best in -4.5 but can help people with up to -6.00. Anyone have any thoughts about this? Would it be worth it for me?
Rob on 5th Aug, 2006, 11:03:
Andrea - I would hope that you could get perfect vision, perhaps even a little over-correction, rather than merely achieving -1.0. I'd talk to your OrthoK-guy and see what can be done. As for the rapid deterioration during the day - this may just be your eyes... but I'd hope for a little overcorrection in the morning, and a little under in the late afternoon.
MrsFrobes - It may still help, but the best thing you could do is to talk to an optometrist with OrthoK experience. What happens with most people is that the eyes lose their improvemed vision over a day or two - some eyes change faster, some eyes slower.. with -5.5 & -5.75, logically I'd expect that a small relative change will have a much more noticable affect than if you had -0.75 like me.
teri on 25th Aug, 2006, 19:01:
I think the problem people have in the beginning is getting used to the rigid lenses. I got rigid (gas permeable) lenses years ago, and it took me weeks to be able to wear them all day. I now wear them 24/7. I am excited to hear all the good stories about how well the OK lenses work - i am hoping to get them next month.
Rob on 25th Aug, 2006, 21:20:
You wear rigid lenses all day, every day? I don't know much about normal rigid contact lenses, but can I presume that they're of a higher possible strength than normal flexible contacts? Hopefully you'll have luck with OrthoK contacts. Let me know how it goes!
Sarah H on 4th Sep, 2006, 20:52:
I certainly am encouraged by all the wonderful things ive been hearing. Does anyone know if there are any problems for people with dry eye's? I struggle with contacts because they dry my eye's out. Will these be the same, because i guess while you sleep its harder for your eye's to dry out, what with then being closed and all?
Andrea on 5th Sep, 2006, 14:31:
Thanks for the advice Rob, I'm now getting 20:20 in my right eye but still not perfect correction in my left eye. I go back today - 5th Sept for another review - it's puzzling because I achieved 20:20 in my left eye a month ago and it seems to have deteriorated even though the lense has been replaced.
I'm going to talk about the over-correction idea as well!
The good news is that I've just come back from vacation and didn't need to put lenses in once!
Shayne on 7th Sep, 2006, 04:00:
Started my OK journey 2 weeks ago and it has been somewhat of a struggle at times - the up front cost was $2500. The hard lens are very uncomfortable at first but am learning to relax and ensure heaps of conditioner on lens (I even sat up and read for 15 minutes with them in last night). I think I have a couple of more weeks to go until I get the vision I have with glasses but am hanging in there as I have a workmate who has been through it all and she is very encouraging. I wonder why we don't hear much about this option from our Optometrists/Ophthalmologists?
Rob on 19th Sep, 2006, 19:08:
I suspect that we don't hear much about it because most optometrists don't know much about it! The optometrist I visited suggested that it would merely stop my vision getting worse, rather than correct it during the day. This seemed to contradict what I'd read on the Internet, so I took her referral and chatted to the ophthalmologist who did Ortho-K instead. I'm now half-heartedly hoping that my right eye will get a little worse, so that I can use Ortho-K with it too! :-)
Scott on 7th Oct, 2006, 15:43:
Hey Rob nice blog.
I came across this from Wikipedia site. I too Went to Jim at the eye practice in Sydney.
I have used ortho-k since start of 2004. I was -1.75 myopia but now have 20/10 vision.
My lenses have lasted me 3 years so far, Jim told me he has had someone on for 7 years without needing to get new lenses. I clean and look after them carefully so hope i dont need to buy new ones for a while.
I have a tip to ensure comfortable wear all the time. Get some of that Lens Plus saline in a can stuff. When you take the lenses at smother it in the lens plus saline. Then put a couple of drops of saline onto the lens as this ensures a barrier between the eye and contact, a lot more comfortable than putting them in dry. Then when the contact is in the eye dont blink straight away. What i do is grab my eye lashes and pull my eyelid over the eye then blink away. Feels almost like wearing a comfy soft lens.
If you ever tear or it has a slight stinging sensation don't go to sleep cause you'll probably wake up. Take em out wash em with saline and put em back in.
Only had minor problems occasionally like dryness in left eye which is easily fixes with a couple of eye drops.
Anyway I'll bookmark this site and hope all goes well.
Scott
Amanda on 20th Oct, 2006, 19:31:
I'm thinking about getting Ortho-K but I'm not sure..
Rob, you said in the beginning that you had some difficulties in focusing on the computer screen and suppose objects close-up. I wonder, is it still like that, or has it gone back to normal pre-OrthoK close up vision? How long (days/weeks/months?) did it take?
I'm wondering because in my work I really need to be able to focus on really small things (I'm in a lab doing my PhD working with tiny things). So I'm not sure wether to get OrthoK or not, because if it meant to lose my near sight vision it really wouldn't be worth it...
Thank you for a very nice blog!
/Amanda
Rob on 21st Oct, 2006, 19:08:
My vision returned to normal.. close-up is no longer problematic (although it's still noticable in the first few minutes after taking them out).
My biggest issue now is that after I correct the vision in my left eye, I can't play good billiards anymore, because my right eye is then the worse one, and I'm thrown out of whack. I have to leave my lense out the night before if I want to play good billiards.. every second day is OK for me, however.
Dr. Mike Gambino on 21st Oct, 2006, 21:52:
Hi Rob,
It is so great to hear all of the great, world-wide comments about OK.
I'm having a great deal of success in my practice with newly myopic children as a young as 8 years old. Imagine catching the nearsightedness early, halting it in its tracks, and preventing it from coming back with merely overnight wear every 2nd or 3rd night for the rest of the patients life.?. What a gift to a young person. Of course the child has to have very cooperative parents to assist and encourage them. By the way, I don't understand this discomfort problem. Of course the proper fit is critical to comfort. But I always start my patients off with a drop of a mild, diluted, topical anesthetic which numbs the surface of the eye for about 5 to 10 minutes. My patients then have no problem inserting the lenses at bedtime and usually by the time the drop wears off they are sound asleep.
Many docs are reluctanr to do this because they are concerned that the patient may get something in their eye or under their lens while the eye is still numb and not feel the cornea being scratched. Well Rob, I've been in practice for 30 years and I've never had this happen with a patient. This slight risk is well worth my patients comfort and satisfaction. However, I do not won't my patients overusing the numb drop. If they have to continually put drops in their eyes for comfort then the lenses are not fit right. The drop is only used for the initial insertion of the lens. After a while the majority of my patients no longer need to use the drop. Any body out there i9n the DFW area can check me out at
www.seebetterdallas.com.
Thanks Rob and best of luck.
Suzanne on 2nd Nov, 2006, 22:13:
I’ve been wearing OrthoK lenses for about 5 months now. My experience with them has been frustrating. I have been back to visit the dr. at least 10 times so he can monitor my progress and change the strength of the lens. Apparently I also have dry eyes, so more mornings than not, I don’t have clear vision. My dr. gave me prescription eye drops, and I'm supposed to put drops in my eyes CONSTANTLY, which is highly annoying. I find what is most helpful is putting in lots of eye drops right before bed, since it’s the night time when the reshaping takes place, and when moisture in the eye counts the most (my findings). Things have slightly improved, but how clear my vision is in one or both eyes in the morning is a crapshoot.
I have TERRIBLE night vision and have almost hit pedestrians with my car, and a police officer directing traffic. Needless to say I don’t drive at night anymore without putting in the lenses first, which is a big inconvenience now that it gets dark at 5pm, and you’re not supposed to wear the lenses until right before bed. Also, depth perception at night is extremely poor (outdoors or while driving). I can barely walk down the street at night between glare from lights throwing off my vision, and not being able to see where I'm stepping due to lack of depth perception.
My lenses and unlimited follow-up eye exams cost $1600. The prospect of stopping the progression of my myopia is what attracted me to the lenses, as well as the desire to eventually get LASIK (my prescription has not been stable, and needs to be for 2 yrs before getting LASIK). At -4.5 and -4.75, I was told I was on the cusp of being able to get OrthoK lenses. I wonder if it was worth it, though commentary from Dr.Christopher Scheno regarding a prescription for night glare gives me some hope. I am disappointed but suppose I can deal with the varying degrees of vision on a daily basis, but the night vision situation is downright dangerous. So really do your research and determine how good of a candidate you may be before investing in these.
Dr Raymond J Brill on 18th Dec, 2006, 06:40:
Very good blog. Suzanne, you should ask your doctor to make the optic zone of the lenses a little larger after analyzing the tangential maps of your topography from his corneal topographer. If anyone is looking for an orthokeratology specialist, look for those docs who have achieved "Fellowship" status in the Orthokeratology Academy of America website at www.okglobal.org. I have achieved the F.O.A.A. distinction and would be honored to work with anyone willing to travel to the Kansas City Metro Area. Raymond J Brill, OD, FAAO, FOAA drbrill@brilleye.com 913-432-7676 for appointments.
Robert Temple on 22nd Jan, 2007, 21:35:
I just started my OrthoK contacts 3 nights ago. So far, I haven't had any difficulty putting them in or taking them out. I even put the contacts in early last night and watched a movie with them in. They are not nearly as comfortable as my daily disposable contacts were, but overall they are tolerable for me.
The main thing I'm discouraged by at this point is that when I wake up my vision is improved, but it is only improved from -3.25 to -1.00 so I still need to wear other contacts to see clearly. I'm holding out hope that they will continue to improve over the next few weeks.
Robert
Carly on 27th Jan, 2007, 23:48:
Hi there, My optometrist has only worked with children & teenagers so far with OK lenses. I'm turning 33 this year and wondered if those of you that have had success, are around this 'vintage'!
The night glare comment from Suzanne was a little scary i must admit!
Interesting also the variation in length of time optometrists say you can keep the lenses, before replacement. Mine is in Sydney like Rob's and i've been told 18 months is all they'll last!
Robert Thomson on 29th Jan, 2007, 10:16:
Hi Carly. My optometrist said that one client had used the same lenses for 5 years... but I think that that was the exception. My feeling is that if you don't drop and step on them, they'll last a good length of time. Keep them clean and follow the instructions, and everything will be OK for a couple of years at least, most likely more. I've now had my lens for over a year, and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't last for another, short of breaking it.
Fiona on 22nd Mar, 2007, 17:27:
Hi Rob, Well I have been wearing Ortho K lenses for about 7 years and I am on to my second pair so they do last (I'm 32). I have recently moved to London from Oz so decided it was time to find an Optometrist here that specialises in Ortho K. Today I have now been told that I should change my lenses as they are too old (although he didn't look at them) and replace them with a brand called Paragon CRT. When I was in Oz I use to send my lenses away every so often to get professionally cleaned but they do not do that here. It is going to cost me £35 a month plus solutions on top of the £250 bill today and they only last a year. A bit hard to know what to do really...may need to call back to Oz for a second opinion. Anyway good luck with yours!
Alex on 21st Apr, 2007, 03:09:
Greetings. I've started using the Ortho K lenses a few days ago. I've worn them 3 nights now and my vision is getting better. Today was the first day I drove w/o any other corrective lenses in. I could see just well enough to drive but the halo effect from lights at night was a bit disturbing. I've heard that this goes away with time, we shall see.
I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical about the whole procedure especially due to my high prescription. -8.00 & -7.00 diopters but it seems to be doing the trick. I've worn soft contacts for 20 years and these things are pretty tricky to get out even with the plunger. One of my main problems is not moving my eye when I an inserting the plunger. For 20 years I've moved my eye to get the soft lenses out and of course this just doesn't work in this situation.
The first night I wore the Ortho K lenses was terrible in that they were so uncomfortable. This may be partly due to the huge correction they are trying to make. Every blink was painful and I could hardly keep my eyes open in the morning to take them out.The second night was better and the third night even better. Hopefully the trend continues. I'll keep you posted.
Marisa on 2nd Jul, 2007, 02:26:
I'm another Aussie who has been using Orth-K for a few months. Like everyone else, I wondered if I'd made a big mistake the first couple of nights - the lenses felt excruciating while my eyes were open. I ended up feeling my way from bathroom to bedroom with my eyes closed! The first couple of mornings, my eyes were glued together with gunk.
I also found the lenses hard to remove with the plunger - the trick is to put your finger under the bottom lid and push it up and down a few times, then the top lid, and try again. If that doesn't work, put some saline in your eyes and repeat. After a couple of weeks my eyes seemed to get less "sticky" and they now come out easily.
I'm still under instructions to wear them every night, though I've already discovered I can skip a night(if I've had a big night or am too tired), and my vision is still fine next day.
Rebecca on 9th Dec, 2007, 15:13:
I am looking into having my daughter to wearing Ortho K lenses. The doctor said she only needs to wear them until about the age of 20 since the eye sight will be stablized at that time.
From this blog, it seems this is not the case. She might have to wear them many more years after she reaches 20.
Robert Thomson on 9th Dec, 2007, 20:04:
Hi Rebecca,
It seems that Ortho-K can also be used to repair vision in children. I read this article about it recently:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/lenses-could-repair-sight-while-children-sleep/2007/12/04/1196530679005.html
This effect is probably what the doctor is referring to. Unfortunately for the rest of us, our eyes aren't growing any more so we're stuck with doing it every night.
I hope it works for your daughter! Giving your child the chance to have 20/20 vision in adulthood seems like a great gift, even if it might not be properly appreciated (we never appreciate perfect vision until we've lost it, unfortunately).
Steve on 12th Dec, 2007, 00:35:
We are the original inventor of Ortho-K lenses and yes your daughter will most likely have to wear them continuously to maintain the effect. While she may be able to skip a night here and there, the lenses rarely have a permanent effect.
Ron C on 9th May, 2008, 16:43:
Hey all, this has been the most helpful site I found. I am currently on day 2 with my Paragon CRT lenses. I have -3.25 vision in both eyes, I woke up yesterday with -2 and today with -1. I probably could go with out the soft -1 contacts today but I tossed them in anyway. They CRT's are crazy uncomfortable at night but I have no problem putting them in or out. To take them out I pull my eyelid to the side slightly like I'm imitating a Japaneses person and then I just blink and Pop they come right out. I too am having problems with night vision but I am hopeful it will get better.
Joy on 20th May, 2008, 11:00:
has anyone had any experience of possibly wearing the overnight lens for too long?? This morning my previously pretty clear distance vision was a bit blurry and close up vision very blurred, by mid afternoon distance good and clear, and my watch face is still quite blurred. Have been using the lenses now for 3 weeks and think generally they are great. Any of you had this situation?
Robert Thomson on 20th May, 2008, 15:00:
Joy, occasionally I've managed to rip a little bit of skin off my eye while removing the lens, and then I've had blurred vision. I'm now very careful and make sure I blink plenty of times before trying to remove it, and use eye drops if I'm still unsure. Early on, I noticed that focusing close up (on the computer monitor that I worked behind) was a little harder but that seems to have disappeared now. I guess my eye/mind just needed to get use to its new perspective. Unrelated to Ortho-K, I've also heard that you can get non prescription "computer glasses" that can/should be worn when doing lots of close up work, so as not to strain your eyes.. I wonder whether this is true, and whether this simple measure would help to reduce or slow down vision loss in many cases.