Ortho-K for Kids
The majority are younger patients, and they enjoy not wearing glasses or contacts. School-aged children don’t worry about their studies, and parents enjoy how their child maintains their lenses all at home. Soft contacts, however, can make parents worried about what their child will do at school or on the go if they lose a contact lens or have discomfort.
Parents experience peace of mind that their eyesight will stabilize and stop progressing with worse nearsightedness.
Ortho-K for Adults
Older patients range from 30-65 in ortho-k lenses and love the convenience! Dry eye pateints don’t like wearing glasses or contacts for long periods of time, they enjoy the freedom of vision that fits their lifestyle and doesn’t irritate their vision. Ortho-k depends on patients candidacy such as curvature of the eye & prescription and they want an alternative to vision correction without daytime eyewear.
Ortho-K Success Stories
We have a 35-year old accountant who couldn’t wear soft contacts anymore & didn’t like glasses. After 3 years, she’s loved ortho-k lenses with ease of use on the computer and at her close-up work.
We have a high schooler who also had a crossed-eye, and was -7, a borderline case of high myopia that might not have been an ortho-k candidate. However, we decided to work with him anyway. Today, glasses are no longer a struggle with his day-to-day life, and enjoys perfect vision without glasses or contacts. It’s really improved his confidence and was an obvious self-esteem boost.
Ortho-K Candidacy
Not everyone is an ortho-k candidate, and some cases are borderline based on the curvature of their eye, prescription, and what they expect. Some patients may not enjoy ortho-k simply because of their lifestyle. However, for those patients who want it, it’s done a lot for them.
Will Ortho-K Change Optometry?
Ortho-K isn’t something that many doctors use or will change optometry a lot today. Maybe in another 10 years, ortho-k will become more mainstream. Similarly to LASIK, it didn’t change optometry. Instead, it became another tool to help patients achieve clear vision. I think ortho-k is moving in the same direction.