The road to better health typically doesn’t occur while you sleep, but there are exceptions. If you’re one of the millions of Americans with nearsightedness and/or astigmatism, orthokeratology (ortho-k) offers you a way to reshape your corneas each night, allowing you to see more clearly come morning.
At Tayani Institute, our team of ophthalmologists and vision specialists understands the frustration that comes with poor eyesight. To help our California clients have optimal eye health, we offer a comprehensive suite of services at our 10 offices that cover everything from diabetic eye care to simple vision correction through glasses and contacts.
As part of our services, we do offer LASIK, but if the thought of surgery leaves you cold, ortho-k may just be the solution you’re looking for.
Here’s a look at how ortho-k improves your vision while you sleep.
The idea behind ortho-k
Ortho-k is an innovative workaround for vision correction that doesn’t entail surgical corneal reshaping. Through ortho-k, we outfit you with gas permeable contact lenses that reshape your corneas while you sleep. The lenses are FDA-approved for overnight wear, and when you remove them in the morning you enjoy improved vision that lasts throughout the day.
Who can benefit from ortho-k?
Ortho-k is an ideal treatment for those who have mild-to-moderate myopia (nearsightedness). Approximately 24% of the population in the United States over the age of 40 falls into this category, which makes them ideal candidates for ortho-k. As well, if you have accompanying astigmatism, ortho-k can help with that, too.
For the younger population, ortho-k is a great solution for children who are developing myopia. With ortho-k, we can arrest this process, helping your child’s eyes reshape themselves for better vision.
Getting started with ortho-k
The process to get started on ortho-k is fairly easy — we simply measure your eyes and custom design the appropriately shaped lenses. You may need to go through several different contact lenses as we initiate the reshaping, during which time you may have to continue using corrective lenses.
Once your eyes reach the ideal shape for 20/40 vision or better, we supply you with contact lenses that maintain this improvement.
One of the added benefits of ortho-k is that should you decide to go another treatment route, LASIK for example, you simply stop using the ortho-k lenses, and your corneas will return to their former shapes.
Ortho-k by the numbers
To give you an idea of the efficacy of ortho-k, the FDA conducted a study that measured the success of ortho-k in the various degrees of myopia (the goal was 20/40 vision or better):
- One diopter or less: 100%
- -1.25 to -2 diopters: 95%
- -2.25 to -3 diopters: 93%
- -3.25 to -4 diopters: 92%
- -4.25 to -5 diopters: 100%
- -5.25 to -6 diopters: 100%
As you can see, ortho-k is incredibly effective in restoring your vision.
If you’d like to explore whether you’re a candidate for ortho-k, please contact one of our 10 offices in San Clemente, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Needles, Blythe, Irvine, Oceanside, Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear Lake, and Costa Mesa, California. Or you can use the online scheduling tool to make an appointment.